{"id":2260,"date":"2024-05-30T14:24:09","date_gmt":"2024-05-30T13:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feedbackmag.co.uk\/?p=2260"},"modified":"2024-05-31T17:10:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-31T16:10:01","slug":"liam-bailey-staying-in-the-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/feedbackmag\/2024\/05\/30\/liam-bailey-staying-in-the-ring\/","title":{"rendered":"Liam Bailey: Staying in the ring"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nottingham-born Liam Bailey<\/a><\/em> <\/strong>has enjoyed chart-topping success with Chase and Status<\/a><\/em><\/strong> reaching no.5 with the hit Blind Faith<\/em><\/a>. Despite releasing five EPs and four albums, he’s remained surprisingly under the radar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bailey released two EPs on Amy Winehouses<\/em><\/strong> Lioness Records label, and scored a hit with Shy FX on Soon Come<\/em>. Previously signed to Polydor Records, Bailey has now emerged from the shadows with his 2024 album, Zero Grace<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, released in February, solidifying his status as a bona fide song and dance man<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s just returned from <\/a>The Big Weekend<\/a>.<\/strong> \u201cIt’s been mad but blessed,\u201d he said. \u201cChallenges come with rewards. The gig with Chase and Status was\u00a0 mad. It always is with those guys. I still love singing ‘Blind Faith.’ You can’t deny the euphoria of hearing people sing your lyrics back to you. I feel lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a week before, he was in Maida Vale Studios playing live in session on BBC 6, next to Paul Weller<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, who will be supporting him on tour later this year. Weller said on live radio<\/a> that Bailey is \u201cone of our greatest writers and artists\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd no one knows about me!\u201d says Bailey. \u201cIt’s crazy, but you know what, it\u2019s meant to be. I’m just grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat the fuck went on that day I do not know. Paul Weller turns up to do backing vocals and then he’s jumping on the piano.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Liam Bailey and band with Paul Weller at Maida Vale <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bailey moved to London to do open mics <\/a>in the mid-2000s, leaving his indie rock band Boss Goat, who recorded at Yellow Arch Studios in Sheffield the same time the Arctic Monkeys were doing the same. \u201cWe recorded a great track in that session, but our band was never going to make it. It was an uncomfortable eye-opener.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI came to London to do open mic nights. I remember coming down because I didn’t play guitar <\/a>in Nottingham\u2014I was in a band. So I came down to do that, and it’s the best thing I did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bailey wished he had realized sooner that \u201cit’s not that deep,\u201d finding it a struggle to find a place in the music industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGetting signed and trying to be a musician and learning to navigate that world was a lot. I’m from a working-class area. I’ve got no filter, so it took me a while to adapt in professional situations,\u201d he says. \u201cIt takes diligence to learn the etiquette, to not want to knock someone out who’s chatting shit off their head on coke at the Brit Awards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI let insecurities and underconfidence get to me. I didn’t have many people around me who could give constructive advice. You get this feeling that if you keep saying no to everything, you’re difficult. But then you say yes to everything, and you end up being difficult anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, Liam released two EPs on Lioness Records, one of the songs being a cover <\/a>of Etta James<\/em><\/strong>‘ I’d Rather Go Blind<\/em>, which he also covered on BBC 6.<\/a> \u201cAmy got to it and loved it, and it went down so well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don’t want to say it’s become my tune,\u201d he says of I’d Rather Go Blind<\/em> \u201cThere are people out there who can body me on that song differently. You can’t even chat to me again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, Bailey has been at several labels before landing at Leon Michels’ Big Crown Records<\/a>. It hasn\u2019t always been smooth sailing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While at Polydor, trying to release his song When Will They Learn<\/em>, he had to release it by calling it The Dynamite Set ft. Liam Bailey<\/em><\/strong>. \u201cI told Polydor I was going on strike because they were acting like a bunch of kn**heads, not recording my song.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After getting out of his deal with Polydor and paying up, he ended up at Blind Buddha alongside Hiatus Coyote<\/em><\/strong>, but it didn\u2019t work out. \u201cWhat can you do?\u201d he says. \u201cYou either quit or stick at it. I’m too daft to do anything else. If I told you how many jobs I’ve had before I got a record deal… I’ve stayed in the ring. It’s been f*cking arduous. It’s not pretty, but when you do get a win\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zero Grace<\/a><\/em> could be one of his biggest wins yet. Released on Big Crown Records, Bailey worked with Leon Michels, whom he met in 2005. \u201cMe and Leon, through working together over the years, have slowly got to Zero Grace<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Album cover,<\/a> Zero Grace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They released Ekundayo<\/a><\/strong><\/em> in 2018 and wished they\u2019d done it sooner. \u201cI trust him like nothing. Liam has stuck by me, warts and all, and I’m very lucky. I’m just so proud of what we’ve done with the album\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of Zero Grace<\/em> was recorded live and onto tape. \u201cYou can hear the energy of the lads in there. I know that I’m attacking it like I’ve got no time to lose. I can’t remember writing half the lyrics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When writing his songs, \u201cI mostly touch freestyle and listen back. It’s always the subconscious that’s not lying. Your brain chats shit; your gut is the one. It sounded fucking red hot.\u201d Says Bailey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The album looks at childhood struggle, love, and racial justice. It can make you reflective at points and want to get up and dance at others. It moves seamlessly across genres, including reggae and soul, resulting in a special album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMercy Tree,\u201d a song about reparations, has been called \u201ca powerhouse of reggae rebel music.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat one I had to be careful with,\u201d Bailey says. \u201cI had to point out the history. Point out we weren’t welcome. The Windrush boat was a privately chartered boat, not a government chartered boat. Then I wanted to point out that we sowed seeds of culture. When I say \u2018we,\u2019 I mean us. Look what happened in the ’70s: Reggae and the Two Tone movement came together with skinheads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re all in this together. Maybe, hopefully, I got this across and the bigger conversation. Where’s all of our money? What the fuck are they doing? Where is it, bro? Just give us what we want. It doesn’t matter what colour you are. It’s important to get it right. We should be happy with a piece or two. Everybody wants to be like we, but the money never comes through.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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