We had front row seats (well, kinda) to the Grammys this year when singer Jess Glynne took over our Instagram feed for the night. The North London hailing singer – who you’ll most likely recognize from Clean Bandit’s *Rather Be *aka pretty much the radio’s favourite song last year – won her first Grammy that night (and had to share it with our audience before she could share it with hers, soz Jess!) But she’s pretty awesome as a solo artist, too and she’s had a monster year to prove it. Lucky for us we managed to pin her down for a quick chat ahead of the release of her debut album where we spoke Amy Winehouse and definitions of success.
Hey Jess, So you did an Instagram takeover for us at the Grammys earlier this month where you WON! That must have been ridic!!
Yeah, it was pretty mad. It was probably one of the most surreal moments of my life.
Has life changed a lot for you since?
I mean, not really, other than the fact that I’m gonna have a Grammy. My life is pretty mad already.
So, other than winning a Grammy what’s been the most insane thing that’s happened to you this year?
I think doing my own headline tour was pretty mad. That’s something that I always dreamt of doing and it came to life last year and I couldn’t believe it.
That must have been sooo nerve-wracking to head out on your own!
Oh my God, it was so nerve-wracking! It’s definitely not something I just walked out on stage and smiled not giving a shit.
Did you take any shots before getting on stage to calm your nerves?
Umm naah, I don’t really drink before shows. I normally just sit in silence and have a glass of water or like a hot honey and lemon, then me and my band do a little ritual thing and then just get on stage and go.
Honey and lemon is definitely quite different to shots! What’s your ritual?
It’s kind of a weird thing that no one else gets but we get in a circle and put our hands together and say something that means something to us but no one else.
Is there anyone or anything in particular that helps keep your feet on the ground?
Everyone around me, my friends and family keep me pretty grounded. I’m quite like a straight and narrow person [anyway]; I never let myself get carried away with anything because you never know what could happen. I think in this industry people get ahead of themselves when things are going really well and sometimes that’s not the best thing. You’ve just gotta go with it because you never know how long things last, at any given moment people could hate you.
I guess when you know how much hard work goes into it as well it’s not as easy to get so gassed.
Yeah, that’s the thing. I’ve worked so hard and I do so much that I don’t want to let it all go at once. I just kinda wanna take it day by day and moment by moment rather than get way too excited and explode.
Other than great songs what do you think all great artists must have?
Something different. I think the thing that attracts people to artists is a thing that they have or something endearing that they have that not everyone has. Beyoncé for example has most definitely got that thing that people admire. She’s a strong woman, she’s got amazing songs but there’s something about her as a person that comes across so well. I think that every artist needs to have… not necessarily have to do something strange to get noticed but to have a real quality that people admire.
So, what do you think your star quality is?
I haven’t figured that one out yet. When I do I’ll let you know.
We’ll be waiting for that call! You’re working on your debut album, how’s it going?
The album’s actually finished; I’m in the process of mixing it at the moment. The process has been mad because it all kicked off in between making it so it was like I was going off on gigs and also recording the album then doing this and doing that which is a crazy way to make an album.
How did all that craziness impact on the album’s content?
This album is an introduction to me; it’s kind of like the beginning stages of Jess. No one knows anything about me and this is an album that’s the first step in getting to know me so I guess everything that I’ve been through over the past two years has come into every song.
You write for other people too, like you recently wrote a song for Iggy Azalea. If you could write for anyoneee dead or alive who would it be?
I would have loved to write a song with Amy Winehouse. That was a dream of mine that didn’t happen.
I read somewhere that you loved Amy when you were younger…
Yeah! For me it was another girl from north London, she had a similar background to me and kind of was doing something that I really wished I could have done. The whole thing for me was so inspiring and urged me to want to do it even more, especially knowing that someone from just down the road was doing the exact same thing.
What’s your definition of success?
I think defining success is one of the hardest things because even when you’ve got success you still want more. Like Jay Z to a lot of people is probably the definition of success but to himself I don’t think he thinks he is, I think he’s sitting there like, ‘right, what’s the next thing?’ To me, success is having a continuation of success, like an ongoing thing of it. You can have success but that success can disappear. For me success is being able to make it last.
Thanks Jess, byeeee!
Bye!
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.