Crossing The Thin Line: An Interview with Heather Peace
Laura Macdougall talks to actress and musician Heather Peace about her new album, The Thin Line, and what it means to be an out musician and actor.
(Click images to enlarge)
I spoke to Heather Peace the day after the recent local government elections in which UKIP performed terrifyingly well. It was clear both from talking to Heather and from listening to her new album, The Thin Line, that social and political issues are something she’s thinking a lot about at the moment. Although Heather started out as a musician, playing in bars in Manchester while a student and even releasing music with Simon Cowell, she is best known for her work as an actress, starring in television programmes such as London’s Burning, Lip Service and Waterloo Road. Heather released her first album, Fairytales, in 2012, while juggling both careers; but she recently left Waterloo Road in order to concentrate fully on music, having built up an impressive fanbase, which has led to her performing sell-out gigs and even touring Australia. When I spoke to her she had just finished unpacking 2,000 CDs of her new album, all of which needed signing.
The Thin Line is full of Heather’s trademark genuine emotion and heartfelt lyrics as she continues to explore the darker side of relationships and the difficult situations we often find ourselves as a result of love. There are big ballads as well as quieter, keyboard-based and acoustic tracks. As a result of Heather’s love of Dusty Springfield, Motown and the girl groups of the ’60s, there are also big anthems complete with backing vocals and heavy bass, and even the odd dance number. It’s a varied record, held together by Heather’s characteristically open and honest lyrics and some impressive vocals.
There are a couple of tracks on The Thin Line that could be described as ‘activist’ and that mark quite a significant change from your previous material. Can you tell us a bit about what prompted this development?
My first album was a lot more self-indulgent really. I suppose that was me; I was in quite a dark place when I wrote all those songs and I hadn’t met Ellie. I’m just happier in myself and I suppose when you’re happier in yourself you start to look outside of yourself, which can only be a good thing. I spent most of my twenties, like we all do, being self-indulgent. It wasn’t a conscious decision. It’s just how I felt. I think ‘We Can Change’, especially, was because I’d been doing ‘I’m Coming Out’ by Diana Ross out in Australia. I wanted to bring the audience in because a lot of them weren’t familiar with my tunes. This was at Mardi Gras and I thought: why haven’t I got a big anthem like that? I’ve always lyrically had the idea for ‘We Can Change’: it’s about pointing out the similarities rather than the differences. It’s far more interesting, what we’ve got in common.
Where did the idea for the video for ‘We Can Change’ come from?
We had to keep it simple. It came from the line “Lay your colours down”, but we didn’t want to be so specific as to make it a rainbow flag – it’s not necessarily about that. The anthem is a gay anthem for me, but it’s an anthem for any minority really. We’re all trying to make the world a better place and then that terrible right wing tries to pull us all back. As things move forward there’s always a backlash. It was the same with women’s rights, it’s the same with gay rights. That has definitely been at the forefront of my mind.
Even though you say you’re less self-indulgent these days, lyrically The Thin Line is still really dark.
Yeah, the album is still dark. ‘House For Your Broken Heart’ is a genuine story of an event that happened with a friend of mine who came round completely heartbroken, couldn’t breathe, and was shouting god knows how many things at me when I was trying to calm her down.
You also write about domestic violence on the track ‘Lily’.
That’s a true event as well. I never meant the album to not be dark, but a lot of the stories are outside of me. There are love songs thrown in there. There’s ‘I Pick Flowers’, and ‘In My Arms’ is about long-term relationships.
What was your approach when it came to structuring this album?
I had more of an idea of how I wanted an overall sound to be, which was to give it a warmth and more of an upbeat energetic feel than Fairytales. But then again in all the albums that I’ve loved in my life there’s been a mix of tempos and a mix of ballads. Three of my favourite albums in the world would be Rumours by Fleetwood Mac, Prince’s Purple Rain and Michael Jackson’s Thriller. If you look at all of those albums, they change tempo and everything but there’s always a throughline and the throughline on The Thin Line was the way we recorded: the musicians were all in the room together, we recorded it on tape, everything you hear on the album is an organic instrument – even the synthesizers are a 1980s Juno which still has working, whirring parts. Nothing was done digitally and I think that in itself gives the album a vibe, and it’s quite energetic because of that.
How did you find the production process, given that this is your second big studio album and you’ve moved on a lot from your earlier, acoustic work?
I was much more involved. We had limited funds last time. Well, we had limited funds this time but the difference being that my producer has a home studio that has incredible equipment like valve amps and all the stuff that adds warmth, so we spent four days in assault and battery in London with the full band which put down all of the essentials – bass, guitar, piano, drums – and we were all in the room together so they’re all live takes. Then it meant that James Lewis and I could go away and we took three months. My first album was all put down in two weeks of studio time. So having the three months – because James cared about it as much as I did – meant that we could go away for the weekend, listen to it and come back and develop it, and not have to put a full stop on it until we were totally happy.
I know you did some writing with Shelly Poole (formerly of Alisha’s Attic) on this album. What was she like to work with?
Shelly’s also very, very open and we’re very similar as people. We worked on ‘We Can Change’ first. Lyrically I took all the ideas in but then said, ‘I want it in the style of Dusty Springfield. I want a big Dusty anthem’, and technically she can work with that. I’d take in the ideas and then we’d brainstorm and we sat around and laughed a lot. I think ‘No Mercy’ was the funniest because it’s so rude! It’s quite sexual, so that was quite comical and it got really dirty, with us saying, ‘We can’t say that!’ It was just me and Shelly in her home studio for three days brainstorming and working on stuff. It was brilliant.
You’ve also written tracks with Jill Jackson and Horse.
Yeah, but that was a long time ago now.
Do you like co-writing?
It depends who it’s with. Shelly and me, that was the best bond I’ve ever had. I would definitely work with Shelly again and again and again, because we as two people connected the deepest that I have with somebody that I’ve been writing with.
What about all the work you do as a role model and with young people [Heather is a patron of the charity Diversity Role Models]? Do you feel a lot of pressure taking on those positions? Is that where some of the tracks on the album come from?
I did at first feel a lot of pressure because I’ve never been very politically minded until I suppose the timing was right with everything coming to the forefront with equal marriage. And the age I’m at as well means I can shoulder the pressure a bit more; obviously I’m through my completely drunken twenties! I think had I taken all this on ten years ago I would have been really pressured and not felt comfortable with it. But I feel like I’ve got a duty of care and it’s right for me to be out there and to be visible and talk about it.
There are moments when I’ve thought, God I’m so bored talking about my sexuality. I’ve been gay since I was nineteen. That I find quite exhausting. That’s part of the reason why there’s that lyric in ‘We Can Change’ (“It’s part of me not the whole of me”), because it’s always the thing that people ask me about and yet I was playing piano before I ever kissed a girl. But it’s important and it means a lot to people and I feel ready to shoulder it. It’s good.
Do you think that gay people are treated differently in the music world as opposed to the acting world? Do you think it’s easier being an out musician than an out actor?
I’ve yet to see with being an out actress because obviously I went straight from Lip Service where I sort of came out to Waterloo Road and then they made Nikki Boston gay in Waterloo Road which I hadn’t been expecting. But straight after that I played John Simm’s wife in Prey, and I was really pleased with that because I didn’t see a problem with doing two gay roles in a row because I’ve been doing this for eighteen years and in filming terms that’s only four out of the eighteen years I’ve played gay, so that’s really cool. It’s nice for youngsters to look you up go, “Oh she actually is gay”, and say “That’s cool”, rather than them looking up straight actresses and going “Oh, she’s straight”. Music-wise, I don’t know whether it’s had an impact. It’s had an impact positively because the gay community has taken me to their hearts and I’m playing at all the pride events, so positively it’s had an impact. Whether it turns people off my music, I’m not sure, but I doubt it. I look back on going to kd lang concerts in the ’90s and half the audience was gay and half was straight and that was fifteen or twenty years ago. But it is about the mainstream press taking you to their hearts as well.
How do you feel about social media? You use it quite a lot, and are active on Twitter and Facebook, and crowdfunded your previous album. Yet in ‘Forever Drowning’ you talk about the negative impact social media can have. How do you find the dual nature of it?
I’m pretty lucky. It’s been quite respectful to a point. Thankfully I don’t fall out of nightclubs anymore. That song in particular is more about a love relationship – about the fact that you’re in love with someone who knows that you are and then posts photos of you looking really awkward with your arm around them. But I guess it must have come from that place. It’s more of a fear than anything else. You know the times when you are out and you might have had a drink. I suppose I’ve performed at Manchester Pride and then a lot of my friends are there and then we’ll drink after my gig. There’s always going to be those pictures that are less than flattering. Not necessarily because you’re drunk but because everybody has an iPhone and everyone is taking pictures all the time. The weirdest ones are when people are trying to take pictures of you and pretending that they’re not. I’ve had that on trains and stuff. I find that quite creepy.
How do you feel about people recording gigs on their iPhones these days?
I don’t understand that. I’ve never understood that. I went out in the Straits of Gibraltar once on a boat because that’s the main route that the dolphins and whales go through and we were so lucky to see a pod of twenty dolphins; it was amazing. But so many people on the boat were filming it on their phones and I was thinking, “you are literally missing one of the most incredible moments in your life that you’ll remember forever”. And then looking back it comes out rubbish on the phone! It’s nothing compared to the real experience.
But in terms of live music, I think a lot of the fans that come to all of my gigs record on their phones for other fans that are maybe in Australia or America and I get that. They come and see me all of the time and they post those videos so that other fans can see as well. But if you were to just go see someone once, I don’t get it at all.
Is there a song on the album that pushed you the most in terms of songwriting; one that you had to work really hard to finish?
Probably ‘The Thin Line’. I think only because it had been three days where I had the piano riff and I wanted to write a song about the state of the world without being too corny, but it’s so hard to write lyrics about the state of the world without sounding really earnest and naff. I had massive writer’s block, and that was when I came upstairs and put the TV on and it was when all the news broke about Syria and then I was wandering around and looking at my BBC phone app and seeing all the terrible images and then I just went and made a cup of tea and I just thought, that is wrong on so many levels. That’s when the song came. It’s about if you feel strongly about something then we should shout about it.
It’s quite hard-hitting that track, you don’t shy away from anything, particularly with the line “Bad things happen when good people do nothing”.
Yeah, I know!
Are you at all worried about how it might be received?
I think it’s the truth. The fact is that even in terms of the UKIP situation last night – if the good people don’t go out and vote because they think it doesn’t count then suddenly you governed by Nigel Farage. So that’s the thing, when you think that your voice doesn’t count. But it does. Look at the peace march in London, yes we still ended up going to war with Iraq, but just the fact that there were a million people in London on the streets that day… Or maybe that’s the worst example because it didn’t make a difference…
Yes, but even when we take action there’s no guarantee we’ll achieve our aims. Yet we have to keep on doing what we can.
I know you like performing covers at your gigs and you do some good ones.
I usually do a couple at the end, yeah.
Will you be performing some new ones on this year’s tour?
Oh yeah, definitely. It’s usually just for me because I quite like a little bit of a dance number sometimes. I like a bit of a really upbeat number, and you know with those big American artists – like we did ‘Dynamite’ – even though they’re dance records, they’re actually really well-crafted, brilliant songs. So yeah, I’ll be listening to stuff and seeing what I fancy. It’s usually just something I really love at the time.
In terms of performing tracks from the album live is there anything you’re particularly looking forward to doing, or will it depend on the venue and the night?
Probably depends on the venue and the night but I think ‘We Can Change’ is always going to work. The good thing is because the band all played live on the album I know it’s going to be great, and my bassist Jack Stephens is just amazing. I think that has potential to go on and on and on at the end. I also like to give my band a bit of a solo usually at some point in the gig where they can just go off on one, so that’s going to be quite good fun to do.
So are you focussing on the music forever now? Or will you return to acting?
I’m focussing on the music for now. I did just turn down an acting job last week which is the first time I ever have and it made me very anxious! I just can’t commit to the long contracts. I left Waterloo Road to write the second half of this album and it was the right decision. But having said that then I went and did Prey, but for me that was only a week’s filming. If things like that come along, I won’t turn them down.
So did you notice a real difference between writing the first and second halves of The Thin Line in terms of taking a break from filming and not working?
Yeah, massively. The second half took a lot less time and I think it’s some of the best material on the album as well.
Being an independent artist seems to be working out well for you at the moment. Presumably you don’t have any plans to alter your current situation?
I haven’t really discussed it with Sarah [my manager]. At the moment we’re independent. I don’t see any reason not to be. We still work with people – we have a marketing company and we have radio pluggers but it’s me and Sarah who get those people on board and they come and work for you sort of thing. I can’t really see another way of it working. We don’t need to. I wonder what a difference it would really make.
Are you looking forward to touring with the new album?
Yeah, a lot. There’s a fan tour for the week of the launch [in June]. All sorts of little venues and putting on little gigs. And then the big full band one that I’m really excited about is in October and that’s the real deal. So I’m most excited about that and I’m doing some festivals well.
The Thin Line will be released on Monday June 9, 2014.