This week Roni Glasthal is joined in the studio by George Pelham.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Based in Kent. I'm Ronnie and this is the show that introduces you to
00:20original music artists from around the county. Each artist will be here with me in the studio
00:25talking about and performing their own music. Today I'm joined by George Pelham, a British
00:30American singer-songwriter with a distinctly emotive and soulful voice from Canterbury.
00:36George, thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. So let's start by talking a little bit about
00:41your voice. You pride yourself on it. It's gotten you where you are today. How did you develop your
00:47specific style? Yeah, that's a good question. Well, I used to be in kind of a choir boy basically,
00:54so I grew up singing in churches and things like that, and that was all I really ever knew. And
00:58then I got into musical theatre because I went to this drama school around Kent actually, and
01:05then had to change my voice for that. Then I realized I didn't want to sing like that. Anyway,
01:10I wanted to sing more kind of soulfully, I guess. I kind of got more into soul music when I was maybe
01:15like 18, 19, and then just kind of trained myself out of all these habits I'd picked up. And now I
01:21sing the way I do. So it's probably an amalgamation of all of those different voices maybe. I don't
01:26really know. So you're a collective of works in a sense? Maybe, yeah. I know I like to think of
01:31myself as like pure soul, but no, I think there's other influences from my life before. But yeah,
01:38no, I used to kind of really dislike my voice, but now I'm trying to be like proud of it and
01:44love it because I think you have to. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's your instrument.
01:47It's the key to this, isn't it? It's all you've got, yeah. And would you say that your sound
01:53influences your writing? Yeah. Yeah, no, definitely. I think finding a sound was also a big
02:01thing, like figuring out how you want to sound and what kind of genre you want to do. There's
02:06so many different ways you can go, but definitely I've kind of fallen into my kind of retro 60s
02:14thing with a bit of modern influence as well. So it's kind of like the songs always end up
02:18sounding like that, I guess. Who would you say is currently your biggest modern influence?
02:23I'd say Bruno Mars, probably. Oh, okay. Not one you hear very often from a lot of people,
02:28I think. You don't think so? No. Well, I think maybe when he first came on the scene. Yeah,
02:34possibly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But there's your American side tying into it. Yeah,
02:39my mom's from California. She's from San Francisco originally and then moved to
02:42LA and a lot of places. But no, she was always playing Beach Boys and stuff like that to me
02:47growing up. And I just love American music and English music as well. Amazing. So tell me a
02:54little bit about your first song today. What inspired it? This one's called Marry You Tonight.
03:00It's inspired by, well, I got married a couple of years ago and I wrote it for my fiance at the
03:07time. And I think we just wanted to get married. We were kind of engaged for a while and we were
03:12kind of impatient about it. So it was like about that feeling. Amazing. Well, take it away. Well,
03:16thank you. Yeah, I will. Okay. Invitations are up. We've started writing our vows.
03:28We're gearing up for the big day. Deposits down for the band. We're working our seed implants.
03:40But it's just so long to wait. And with the way you look this evening, I can't help the way I'm
03:51feeling. Who cares what anyone says? Let's go full steam ahead. It might be the red wine talking.
04:00I might regret it in the morning. But baby, I've made up my mind. I wanna marry you tonight.
04:10This was not the plan. But I don't give a damn. Cause it feels so right. I wanna marry you
04:19tonight. I know it's sad today. But I don't wanna wait for the sun to rise. I wanna marry you
04:31tonight. Would you rather a priest or a justice of the peace? Either way, I'll make it work.
04:40We'll meet a witness or two. I'm sure the waiter would do. We'll honeymoon straight afterwards.
04:55It might be the red wine talking. I might regret it in the morning. But baby, I've made up my mind.
05:03I wanna marry you tonight. This was not the plan. But I don't give a damn. Cause it feels so right.
05:15I wanna marry you tonight. I know it's sad today. But I don't wanna wait for the sun to rise.
05:26I wanna marry you tonight. I do who I do. I do who I do. I do who I do. I wanna marry you tonight.
05:41With the way you look this evening, I can't help the way I'm feeling. Who cares what anyone says?
05:50Let's go full steam ahead. It might be the red wine talking. I might regret it in the morning.
05:59But baby, I've made up my mind. I wanna marry you tonight.
06:09There you go. Beautiful. Thank you. I'm sure she appreciated that. I hope so. I hope so.
06:17Does she influence a lot of your music? Yeah, definitely. I write a lot of,
06:23probably 60-70% of my songs are just love songs for her, I'd say.
06:28That's so sweet. And so with that, does she ever maybe collaborate on them with you?
06:35I wouldn't say collaborate. I'd say, maybe I'll go into the kitchen and say,
06:39what do you think about this line? She might say, no. Probably as far as it would go.
06:46She's really supportive, and it's usually like, good, keep going.
06:50Well, I imagine she is. You've had a lot of success online with your music as well, haven't you?
06:56Well, success is relative, but sure, some success, yeah. I've been going online for
07:02posting for a long time now. So yeah, I try and engage my fans as much as I can on that.
07:08So do you find that social media has kind of helped progress your music
07:13and influence your decisions when it comes to your career?
07:16Yeah, yeah, definitely, completely. I feel like if I didn't have social media,
07:23because my whole kind of ethos is about independence and doing everything myself,
07:26and because I feel like you can these days, whereas maybe 20-30 years ago, you needed to
07:31get into a big studio and work with all these people and things like that. Whereas, I feel
07:37like without social media, social media has allowed me to kind of do that and kind of build a studio
07:42in my garden, and yeah, just basically allowed me to pursue it without having a restraint of
07:50needing external help, I guess. So very gung-ho?
07:55Yeah, yeah. It just allows you to have a relationship directly with people and fans
08:01and getting your music out all over the world. I've had stuff being played, yeah, I get messages
08:06from all over the world, and I don't think that would happen without social media. I think it's
08:10impossible. I think you need that.
08:12So doing it all on your own, what does that mean for your future? What's your next big step?
08:18I think, I don't know. I think it's just continuing, really. I think the one,
08:24I guess, challenge I have is, because I have worked with loads of amazing people,
08:29more when I was living in London, I was working more with other people. Now I've moved to
08:35the countryside, I'm kind of more solitary, I guess. So I guess my challenge is
08:40not getting complacent and kind of getting better. And sometimes when you're by yourself,
08:45you kind of fall into old habits and things like that. So I think just
08:48putting out music and making sure I'm on my own case.
08:52Would you say that coming to the countryside has developed some new habits for you, music-wise?
08:58I think overall, it's just slowed me down in general. I think living in London, I was
09:05feeling like I needed to rush around and play a million gigs and do a million songs. And
09:09now I feel like I let the songs come to me more, in a way. It's definitely more relaxing.
09:15I definitely prefer living here. But yeah, I think, no, I think it's calmed me down
09:22overall, which obviously is going to be heard in the music as well.
09:26So your next song, tell us a little bit about it.
09:30I am going to do a song I've only written really recently. It's, yeah, I don't think I've ever
09:38played this one before, but it's, yeah, basically I get, we were talking about being online and
09:43things like that. So I get, not a lot, but I get some, maybe not so positive comments sometimes
09:51about the way I dress quite a lot. So I get just people saying, you know, people have opinions,
09:59whatever, but that's the beauty of it. But no, I kind of wrote a song about just feeling like
10:06being yourself essentially and dressing up how you want and just not trying to be cool or fit
10:11in with other people's idea of what that is. Well, I can't wait to hear it. It's called Take It Away.
10:16Yeah. Thank you. I need to try to remember this because I literally wrote this like last week,
10:21but no, I got it. I got it.
10:28You can say those look oversized and I look like such a child.
10:32You can say all the suits and ties make the ladies run a mile.
10:38You can say what you want to say, but you've got to say I got my own style.
10:45I can see I've got two left feet, but I'm two step with a smile.
10:50I can't deny that I love my fly, they get me dancing on the tiles.
10:56You can say what you want to say, but you've got to say I got my own style.
11:02I just want to be myself. I won't copy someone else.
11:15So I'm going against the tide because I'm happy running wild.
11:21If you want me to toe the line, you'll be waiting quite a while.
11:26So you can say what you want to say, but you've got to say I got my own style.
11:33I just want to be myself. I won't copy someone else.
11:44You can say those look oversized and I look like such a child.
11:50You can say all the suits and ties make the ladies run a mile.
11:55But you can be who you want to be. You can do what you want to do.
12:01So you can say what you want to say, but you've got to,
12:04you've got to, you've got to say I got my own style.
12:18Hello and welcome back to Based in Kent where I am still joined by
12:21George Palm from Canterbury. Thanks for being here, George.
12:24Thanks for having me.
12:24So next we're going to get into a little game, a quickfire question game.
12:28A timer is going to come up on the monitor between us.
12:30It's going to start counting down as soon as I ask the first question.
12:33No pressure. I know it feels pressured, but there's no pressure.
12:37I know it is quite daunting. I don't know why we designed it this way,
12:40but that's how it goes.
12:43And it's just going to start counting down as soon as I ask the first question.
12:45So live or recorded music?
12:49Recorded.
12:50Recorded. Okay. Tea or coffee?
12:52Coffee.
12:54Coffee. Good choice. Writing or performing music?
12:57Performing.
12:58Okay. Winter or summer?
13:01Summer.
13:01Okay. Favourite song you've written so far?
13:06What A Time To Be Alive.
13:08Okay. Morning or evening?
13:11Morning.
13:12Okay. Very decisive. I like that.
13:14I feel the pressure.
13:16No pressure. No pressure. First song you learned how to play?
13:21Okay. McFly. Obviously.
13:26Okay. As referenced in your earlier song.
13:29Yeah, McFly.
13:30I like it. Sweet or savoury?
13:33Sweet.
13:34Okay. First artist to inspire you?
13:39Jack Johnson.
13:40Jack Johnson?
13:41Yeah.
13:42Interesting choice. I like it. Time alone or with mates?
13:47Mates.
13:48Okay. Social butterfly?
13:50More so as I'm getting older, I think.
13:53Okay.
13:53Yeah.
13:54Interesting. Favourite fellow Kent musician?
13:58Good question. I don't want to...
14:04Let me think. I'm going to go for... Do you know what? I'm going to go for Diet Jesus.
14:10Diet Jesus?
14:12I got to look that one up. I haven't heard of that.
14:14No, he's new, but he's fantastic.
14:16Okay. Favourite gig you've attended?
14:19I want to say... Do you know what? McFly. I went a couple of years ago.
14:27There's a reoccurring theme here.
14:28They're great. Underrated, I think. McFly. I also... Did I see anyone else? I mean, I saw Sam Smith,
14:35but he was good. But McFly. I think McFly.
14:37Okay. First gig you ever played?
14:42Proper gig, I'd say the open mic night at my uni.
14:46Open mic night at my uni.
14:48And that takes us to time.
14:49Okay.
14:50Nice. Okay. Interesting answers in there.
14:52Yeah?
14:52I like it. Some unexpected twists.
14:54Okay.
14:55Keeps it interesting.
14:56Okay.
14:56Well, let's get into your next song, shall we?
14:58Okay, then. Sure.
14:59All right. I can't wait to hear it. Take it away.
15:00All right. This one's called Someone to Love Again.
15:17Where to go from here?
15:21Cause you know you tore my heart out when you made yourself clear.
15:30Not a single part of my body or soul wanted to let you go.
15:38And you know it's been hard while I'm trying to cope.
15:44All that I want you to know is I hope, I hope,
15:51you find someone to love again. Love again.
15:58I know we weren't right, but I want you to love again.
16:05Love again.
16:09Nothing feels the same now. You know we once had it all.
16:16Yeah.
16:18I'm trying to walk away now, but I stumble and fall.
16:26Not a single part of my body or soul wanted to let you go.
16:35And you know it's been hard while I'm trying to cope.
16:41All that I want you to know is I hope, I hope,
16:47you find someone to love again. Love again.
16:54I know we weren't right, but I want you to love again.
17:02Love again.
17:05You know it's been hard while I'm trying to cope.
17:12All that I want you to know is I hope, I hope,
17:19you find someone to love again. Love again.
17:26I know we weren't right, but I want you to love again.
17:32Love again.
17:34ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
18:04ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
18:34ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
19:04Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
19:34ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
20:04I think that's the big, I always think about that.
20:06Because whenever someone says,
20:08I don't like that, or you know,
20:10you can't do that, you can't release that.
20:12Nobody knows, like if everyone had
20:14the magic success,
20:16like recipe for success, we'd all be successful.
20:18But he's just like, yeah,
20:20just don't listen to anyone.
20:22I think that's the one.
20:24I completely agree, and I know the feeling.
20:26No one knows everything.
20:28No, we pretend to, but I don't know anything.
20:30Well the thing that I want to know now is
20:32what's your final song for us today?
20:34I'm going to do End On A High,
20:36I'll do What A Time To Be Alive, this is my first single.
20:38And yeah.
20:40Amazing, take it away.
20:42Thank you very much.
20:44Seven a.m.
20:46And you're by my side
20:48We made it right through the night
20:50You take me by the hand
20:52And look me in the eye
20:54And tell me I can call you mine
20:56What a time
20:58What a time to be alive
21:02What a time
21:04What a time to be alive
21:08I've been trying to help me through
21:10For so damn long
21:12I lost the will to carry on
21:14Couldn't help the feeling
21:16I was so damn strong
21:18Felt too bad for it to be wrong
21:20Oh baby
21:22You called me out the blue
21:24And asked if I still wanted you
21:26No need to ask me twice
21:28Let's get together
21:30And roll the dice
21:32I couldn't tell you
21:34What tomorrow
21:36Will bring
21:38But now you're here
21:40Don't rule out anything
21:46Seven a.m.
21:48And you're by my side
21:50We made it right through the night
21:52You take me by the hand
21:54And look me in the eye
21:56And tell me I can call you mine
21:58What a time
22:00What a time to be alive
22:02What a time
22:04What a time to be alive
22:08Trying to get over you
22:10So damn hard
22:12I didn't know where to start
22:14The bottom of the bottle
22:16Was a step too far
22:18It only ever did me harm
22:20Oh baby
22:22You called me out the blue
22:24And asked if I still wanted you
22:26No need to ask again
22:28Let's get together
22:30Stay where we went
22:32I couldn't tell you
22:34What tomorrow
22:36Will hold
22:38But now you're here
22:40How could I let you go
22:46Seven a.m.
22:48And you're by my side
22:50We made it right through the night
22:52You take me by the hand
22:54And look me in the eye
22:56And tell me I can call you mine
22:58What a time
23:00What a time to be alive
23:04What a time
23:06What a time to be alive
23:08Baby let the good times roll
23:10Baby let the good times roll
23:14Baby let the bad times go
23:16Baby let the good times roll
23:20What a time
23:22What a time to be alive
23:26What a time
23:28What a time to be alive
23:36Amazing, thank you so much for being here today
23:38Thank you very much
23:40And just thank you for sharing your music with us
23:42It was wonderful
23:44It was so much fun, thank you
23:46Thank you all so much at home for watching as well
23:48Join us again next time
23:52Bye