Lewis Capaldi may come across as a one-hit wonder and nothing more than a joker with a penchant for funky sunglasses. The truth is, behind that funnyman persona – are more laughs. One cannot deny the staggering global success the 23-year-old has achieved since the release of his first album, Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent.
Capaldi is taken aback by the overwhelming support from fans all over the world for his music but he himself had a few surprises up his sleeves to give at the press con ahead of his first-ever gig in Singapore on 11 January 2020.
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On cue, Capaldi peeked out from behind a pillar, then strutted to his seat to both applause and cheers. His silly entrance set the tone for the rest of the event, which he supplemented with random sound effects and he regaled the crowd with his various anecdotes. How has his Singapore trip been so far? He mentions that he is in his fourth pair of undies for the day because of the unforgivingly humid weather here. His other, more positive, impression of Singapore? Capaldi likened our garden city to a utopia, like those that appear in sci-fi movies.
When asked how he felt about being able to traverse across the globe to perform at various countries, Capaldi humbly replied that he and his band are in constantly disbelief that they get to travel to different stages where shows are sold out. He suddenly turns serious and says, “I think I’m not bad at music but there are a lot of people out there who are a lot better at music than I am.” He nods sincerely, then adds, “Don’t get me wrong though – I’m not going to trade places!” Instantly, the mood returned to a more lighthearted one.
And why would he trade places when Someone You Loved earned him a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year? For many newly minted singletons, Someone You Loved became their anthem for love lost; for Capaldi, it was his way of paying tribute to his grandmother who had passed away. While he admits many of his songs are sad, Capaldi still feels he is quite ‘chipper’.
Nevertheless, the singer takes all of this in his stride and proceeds to casually reenact the day the nominations were announced, immediately slumping in his interview seat and propping an imaginary laptop on himself. After he positioned himself in an extremely laid back manner, the cameras clicked away frenziedly at what Capaldi quipped, was a “perfect picture moment”. He then yelled out the most natural response when one gets invited to the Grammys — a stretched “WHAAAAAT” that was most hilarious.
With the Grammys just around the corner, Capaldi must have some expectations, although he candidly reveals that he does not stand a chance against the other nominees such as Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift. While he may not be confident about snagging an award, the singer is dead sure that he will attend the ceremony and drink the night away. If he does win, Capaldi replies matter-of-factly that the audience would have no choice but to put up with his incoherent speech as he is certain he would be wasted by then.
It is clear Capaldi is not all about the fame game and definitely far from becoming a pretentious superstar. He is open about his weird food combos (specifically brown sauce on sliced bread) and even encouraged everyone at the press conference to follow a fanmade Instagram account that posts memes of himself.
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Regarding his next album, Capaldi currently has no plans in the pipeline though he confesses he feels a bit nervous as to how he might keep up with the success of the first. When Popspoken probed if he might work with best mate Niall Horan or Noel Gallagher for the second album, Capaldi shares that he has written some material with Horan although it has yet to be determined if the tracks will be released. However, Capaldi laughs off a Gallagher-collaboration as he is convinced the High Flying Birds frontman “hates his music with a passion”. Capaldi might have exaggerated the beef between him and Gallagher but the young singer has met both his ‘hater’ and his daughter, Anaïs.
Capaldi was asked to share a few words with fellow budding musicians and he plainly requested for them musicians to stop making music so as to prevent them from rising up the ranks and putting him out of a job. A few chuckles later, Capaldi composes himself and doles out slightly more legitimate advice to “write songs everyday and play as many shows as possible”.
Shout-outs to Universal Music Singapore for having us.
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