Three million-and-something album sales later, Harry Guerin finds the Scottish singer-songwriter is still remarkably down to earth.
Harry Guerin: From the time you finished touring your first album, 'This Is the Life', to when you started recording your new one, 'A Curious Thing', did you have much time to reflect on your success? Did you get a break at all?
Amy Macdonald: [Laughs] No, I've never had a break! I was still touring with my first album up until September last year. Between May and June [2009] I had two months in which I wrote and recorded 'A Curious Thing' and then basically started promoting it, so there hasn't been any gap between any of the albums for me - it's just been straight from one to the next.
HG: It's a phenomenal work ethic you have.
AM: [Laughs] Eh, I don't think so. It's just the way that it worked out.
HG: So do you have to keep psyching yourself up and saying, 'Come on, come on, keep going!'?
AM: Sometimes definitely. I'm very fortunate in that you have moments like everyone does where you think, 'Why am I doing this?', but then I'm very fortunate that I get to play so many gigs all over the place and just be able to go on stage and have an amazing audience that sing along [to] every word. You think, 'This is why I'm doing it'.
HG: It's a great achievement that you managed to condense 'A Curious Thing' into two months of writing and recording. Was there any pressure in trying to turn it around so quickly?
AM: There was no tension whatsoever. I was never put under any pressure. As [the] two months came I thought, 'This is the only time I'm going to have to write anything'. I thought it would be really difficult but fortunately the songs just came to me, and I feel very lucky for that fact.
I've never been told to do anything. I've never been hurried along by anybody - the kind of so-called 'pressure' of record labels doesn't really exist in my case. I definitely think I'm very fortunate. It [writing the album] was very easy and the whole recording thing was very relaxed and laidback. I like to do things as quick as possible so there's no hanging about - get everything down and go.
HG: Did the success of the first album hang over you in any way?
AM: I just didn't think about it. I think it would've just been stupid to do that because it would just put completely unnecessary pressure on my shoulders. I just completely removed myself from that and thought about writing songs and that was it.
HG: Did you feel more confident in the studio?
AM: [Laughs] No, I'm never confident with what I do, particularly playing and singing! So I wasn't confident, but I was trying to be as quick as possible!
HG: I think people assume that when artists have experienced a lot of success that it gives them this great confidence all the time.
AM: I'm confident when I perform but going into a horrible, boring studio and playing the same thing over and over again is really different to being on stage! When you're doing it in the studio you're trying to get the perfect take or make it perfect but when you're on stage it just all comes together nicely anyway.
HG: One of the songs on your new album, 'Ordinary Life', is about the obsession with celebrity. As someone who comes across as very grounded, have you ever felt pressure to play that whole game?
AM: Not really, I'm not that type of person. I've never really been involved in that side of things. I had one opportunity where I was kind of involved and that's what inspired that song because it just felt alien to me. I just didn't need to be in that world and I'm happy just being ordinary.
HG: When it comes down to it, all that other stuff is just by the by: it should be all about the songs.
AM: Yeah, definitely - it is the music industry after all! But there are a lot of people who forget that fact and try and focus on other things that don't really matter.
HG: Apart from keeping your head screwed on, another heartening thing about your success is that it shows people are still buying albums.
AM: It [sales] definitely has slowed down and I've even noticed that from when I released my first one to the second one - the music industry has changed again hugely. But there are still people that buy albums. It might not be the same as it was years and years ago, but there are the ones that still like the joys of having a physical CD.
HG: Even though you're of a younger age group, you still hark back to the joys of owning a physical album as well.
AM: I've always bought CDs and even when I was young and at primary school I had a massive collection of CDs. I just like the excitement of opening it, reading the book, learning all the words and things like that. Hopefully I'll always be like that. Sometimes if you want something instantly you can just go and get it on the Internet immediately, but I've never done it illegally because I know how much it harms artists. I know I hate it and I hate people downloading my music illegally so I would never do it to anyone else.
HG: From your experience talking to other artists, is it really hurting people badly?
AM: It's hurting music, it's hurting record labels and in turn it's hurting artists. It's like a lot of people think, 'Oh, it doesn't matter. It's just a big, bad man in a suit'. But it's just like a massive, huge chain effect.
When artists go on tour if they're at an early stage in their career there's no money to do that. And right now, because labels are getting hit so badly, they're not making any money and they won't pay for tour support anymore. I was very lucky that when I signed they were still kind of ok so I got all my tour support paid and then as things start to progress and work out better you can go on your own and you don't need the money from the label. But there are a lot of artists now that need that but they're never going to be able to tour because there's never going to be any money given to them. And that's a direct link between the albums not selling and illegal downloading.
'A Curious Thing' and the single 'This Pretty Face' are out now.
