Muse Mondays - Paige Bea

Maisie Budinger
Dec 19, 2017
5 min read

A dear friend of mine Paige Bea, a contempary soul artist from my homeland London has released her debut single called ' Pick Up Your Heart.'

The South Londoner filmed the clip in a close to home station Waterloo and oozes the balance of jazz and RNB melodies.

Wishing that I was in -2 degree weather and able to catch up with the bubbly Paige over a glass of Rosè, we settled for a chat over the internet to discuss all things to come.

MB: Paige! How you doing ?

PB: I’m doing very well thanks Maisie! My winter cold has finally subsided and I’m ready for some festive merriment.

Tis' the season for colds!

So let's dive into it, by explaining the meaning behind Pick Up Your Heart?

I guess in short it’s about apathy, and it’s as much of a wake-up call for myself as for anyone else. I wrote it shortly after singing at a funeral for someone I never really got to know and it just really brought a lot of the things I complain about into perspective. I feel like particularly in big cities everyone is so cripplingly busy that sometimes when you do eventually catch up with an old friend or even meet someone new, you’re not really connecting per say, you’re just waiting for your turn to speak or your mind is elsewhere or you’re glancing at your phone every 5 minutes. I’m as guilty of it as the next person but it really sucks. And the obsession with social media tends to exacerbate this self-centredness.

Yep, I feel this on many levels whilst still consciously trying to change habits of being social media mad!

Pick Up Your Heart really has such a diverse sound to it, but is so addictive and easy to groove to. What was the process of producing the track?

I took it to my producer, Leo, as just me bashing out some chords on the piano, but I think the melodic jump in the chorus lends itself to something with a bit of punch. As my background is primarily as a singer, the vocals were always going to be a focal point and Leo’s production really respected that with some really paired back beats and that toasty warm synth in the verses. It all came together pretty quickly. I think all the best things do.

You filmed the official film clip at Waterloo Station, was that as manic as it seems it would be?

Waterloo is the bane of my life, it brings out my worst self, so it was kind of poignant to film something so carefree there when usually I’m shouting expletives down the phone or loudly tutting to myself at the departures board. We filmed it all on a Sunday in July, so it wasn’t nearly as busy as it could’ve been and it was honestly remarkable how little of a shit people gave. It was great though, because that completely fuelled the whole point of the video and song.

Where and when did your love for all things music begin?

Good question. Honestly? It’s hard to pin point a moment. I remember spending days on end belting the Christina Aguilera Stripped album and Pink’s Misunderstood in my bedroom. Then when I was 13, one of my mum’s friends gave me the Jeff Buckley Grace album and Joni Mitchell’s Blue which was pretty lucky as they’re still my two favourite albums of all time. At school I was constantly doing musicals and concerts, I was always crap at acting though but when it comes to relating emotion through song, that was my strong point. I took up piano when I was about 8 and guitar when I was 14, I still wish I’d dedicated more time to becoming a total boss on my instruments, but I’ve spent the past year getting back into them as I really don’t want to just be that girl who sings. I did opera for a while too, that was strange.

This year you have experienced playing at a huge British music festival and also smaller intimate gigs, what do you prefer?

Playing Bestival was MAD. I think festivals are so so great for getting your music exposed to a really wide audience because people kind of accidentally end up at your set and suddenly you’ve got a new fan who’d never have found out about your gig at a small London venue. Generally it would have to be smaller venues though, it’s just more personal.

So where is next on the to play list for a gig?

I’m taking a little break from gigging as I went all out in the last few months and I’m ready to sort out some new material. I think I’m going to try and put on my first headline show in March (fly over for it? Haha) and I would love to play St. Pancras Old Church or maybe Off the Cuff or the Pickle Factory. Anywhere that has a vibe and the sound is good!

Tell us a song that is soundtracking your life right now?

I’m a massive Rex Orange County fan, I could listen to Edition all day, every day. I’ve also recently got into this all girl punk/alt rock band Goat Girl, they help me feel like the anarchic teenager I never was.

If you could have anyone feature on your next track who would it be and why?

If I could do a collaboration with BadBadNotGood I would die happy. Oh and King Krule, I mean it would probably sound crap but I would not care.

King Krule though, dreams!

You played gigs in the past with other musicians and artists, what is the feeling of doing it solo?

Petrifying at first, but once you get used to it, it bloody rules. I mean obviously there’s a lot more responsibility and you’re like sharing all these really personal songs with people that might not get it, or might think it’s terrible, but I guess you just have to keep on believing in what you’re doing. It’s always going to be subjective. Unless I fuck up on the guitar. That’s objectively bad.

With 2017 being a pretty big year for Paige Bea, any chance of a little sneak peak of what’s to come?

I’ve got two more singles that are in the process of being recorded and produced, and I want visuals for both of them as well so it might take a little while but anything good is worth waiting for right?