Fresh from a remarkable slot, opening for The Who at Wembley Stadium, Connor Selby is a fast-rising blues musician whose debut album, made up my mind, recently hit number 1 on the Amazon Blues Chart. An artist with a wide appreciation of the blues, soul and more, we caught up with Conor shortly before a major headline show at Leicester’s renowned Musician Venue, discussing his influences, musical development and, of course, how the experience of playing Wembley came to fruition. Read on and meet one of the UK’s brightest blues talents.
As I understand it, you first picked up at the age of eight, is that correct?
Yeah, that’s right
So, was that something that you were encouraged to do or something you chose to do?
Um, well, the thing is, originally I played the violin at school and I think I chose that first because, at my school, they had kind of a showcase for the different instruments you could learn and I thought the violin looked nice or something, some stupid reason like that. So, I picked it, did that for a few years, didn’t really enjoy it and then I thought I would try the guitar… again, for no particular reason. But, I didn’t have aspirations to be a guitar player or anything, I just started learning classical. I did that for another few years, then I started taking electric lessons which is when it started to get more serious for me, I guess.
Although, according to your various interviews, you have a wide range of influences, there’s a strong British Blues Explosion influence there, how did you find your way into that genre?
My dad had loads of records, blues albums and things, and he would play bits and bobs and I would hear it and I guess, for whatever reason, I was really drawn to it.
Were you finding your own way into music through other genres at the same time?
I think at that point… when I first started to get into the guitar and blues and stuff, I basically just got obsessed with it and went down that rabbit hole and tried to learn everything I could about it and trace it back to its roots and all sorts. At that point, I wasn’t really listening to a wide range of stuff; I was really narrow-minded and obsessed with that particular genre.
For me, when I was getting into music, I was chasing bands through liner notes in album sleeves, but for you, the internet was very much to hand – did you go through Google searches or did you look at liner notes and find artists that way as well?
I guess I just did everything that was available – at this point, I guess I was eleven or twelve, so I don’t know if I was really that good on the computer – I guess I knew how to use it – but yeah, books and things and, like you say, liner notes… listening to other people, like Eric Clapton, talking about artists they liked.
Did you have friends at that age who were following similar music, or was it pretty much just you?
I was the only one I think.
So, when did you think about shifting from lessons and practice to forming a band and taking this out under your own name?
I guess, probably when I was about fifteen. I’d always wanted to do it, since that point that I just talked about when everything started to get serious, it always felt it was what I needed to be doing since I was twelve and I remember telling teachers at school that this was what I was going to do – that classic thing of them not taking it seriously. But in terms of actually getting out there and playing live, probably around fifteen. I was really lucky in that someone at school, who was my teacher basically, he was a multi-instrumentalist, so he played, I think bass… no, he played drums for me initially, and then there was someone else who he taught that he recommended to me and that was the first iteration of my band. That was when I first started to write and just play with other people.
That’s really cool to have that level of support, because teachers can go one way or the other, I find.
Yeah, he was really important to be honest, in my whole musical upbringing, I suppose. He never really told me what to do; our lessons were really quite free. A lot of the stuff I learned how to play, I learned on my own, all the blues stuff… because he was never a really a big blues fan. He respected blues, but he was not a fanatic like I was. So, I’d bring him stuff and we’d work through it and learn in a very organic way.
I think that’s a cool way to get into it because, rather than focus exclusively on technicality, you’re playing with a bit more heart…
Yeah, absolutely. I’m quite lazy, so, if it was more disciplined, I don’t think I would have done it as much. There’s always been a thing about guitar with me; I never really felt that it’s been difficult. There’s never been any kind of, I suppose discipline is the word, I’ve just done it and it sort of happened.
One of the interesting things about blues as a genre is that there’s a lot of passion and feeling rather than focusing on raw technicality – I guess it’s more important that whatever you play means something in the context of the song.
Yeah, that’s always been really important for me – just playing in a conversational way and making sure that what I’m playing is appropriate, not too over the top and… soulful, I guess, is the word.
So, when it came to putting together your debut album, how long did it take to go from having a series of songs to actually taking that leap and going into the studio?
To be honest, the whole thing s was quite on a whim, I suppose. The opportunity presented itself and I don’t think I was particularly ready, but it came and I took it. I didn’t even have enough songs, originally, so I frantically tried to write and managed to come up with some stuff and then we took it to the studio. All the arrangements were done then and there for most of the songs, so yeah, it was very…
Spontaneous?
Yeah, I guess so… very loose.
Did the producer support you in arranging the material or were you sent off to do your homework?
I didn’t arrange the stuff myself. The bass player came up with his own arrangements and the drummer did his own parts. So, I just did my bit and they did theirs, sort of. The songs were there, but I just said what I kind of wanted and then they came up with their own thing for it and they just did, really.
When it came to tracking the album, was it done predominantly live?
Yeas, it was, yeah. We did backing tracks and I played lead and sang over the top, but it was all isolated so we could do some overdubs afterwards, but yeah, predominantly it’s all live.
Roughly how long did you spend doing the tracking?
Five days, I think it was. It wasn’t that long.
And mixing – were you very hands-on with that?
No, I don’t really have a clue about any of that stuff, so I just sort of let them get on with it really.
When you came to putting the album out, how did you approach that?
I don’t really know. The record company just sorted that all out really, I’ve never really been that knowledgeable about the other side of things; I just care about the music.
The really big achievement, recently, was opening up for The Who, about a week ago, how did that come about – that’s a phenomenal achievement.
Basically, I just got extremely lucky in that the manager of The Who happened to be at a gig that we played in Chelsea. He obviously liked us and liked my stuff, so he just asked us if we wanted to do that, which we obviously did, so we just did it.
How do you go about preparing for a show like that?
We rehearsed a lot really. I think we did alright – people seemed to like it.
Yeah – the reviews seemed to be very positive. So, once you’ve had that experience – was that a learning curve for you – is that going to push you in any particular direction?
I mean, the whole experience was, unlike anything I’ve really ever known before. I suppose, going forward, I don’t know how you can really top Wembley Stadium to be honest. I’m quite relieved that we did what we did and we did it as we do it. We didn’t try to overcompensate or change who we are as a band, or who I am, and people still seemed to enjoy it and it resonated with them. So, that gives me a lot of faith in myself and the band and what we’re doing really.
There seems to be a whole new generation of blues artists emerging – have you found there’s a greater interest in the music that you play and in the genre as a whole?
The blues is one of those weird genres, I think, that’s always going to be around in some incarnation, because fundamentally, at least in my opinion, it’s just human expression, unadulterated – just pure expression, really, so I think it will always resonate with people, because, you know, it’s about the fundamental truths of life, so I think, in whatever form, it will always be around.
But yeah, I don’t know if it’s necessarily become more popular lately. Obviously Joe Bonamassa has kind of defied logic and the laws of the universe by becoming such a huge, mega star playing blues, which I guess goes to show that anyone can do it, really. He’s obviously insanely talented and he’s been working, probably, harder than anyone else in the music industry in the last ten-fifteen years, but, yeah, I don’t know – blues is always going to be around.
One of the things that always drew me to it was that very community-minded spirit – are there any blues artists with whom you’d like to collaborate?
Yeah, Clapton is a huge hero of mine – to play with him or do anything with him would be insane. There’s a German guy I really like called Henrik Freischlader – I was actually opening for him at that Chelsea gig – he’s one of my favourites in the modern contemporary blues world. There are so many great players now – people like Kirk Fletcher, Josh Smith and Doyle Bramhall II, he’s really great; Gary Clarke Jnr is someone I really admire. I’ve always sort of appreciated artists who are more well-rounded in the sense that they write good songs and stuff as well as being fantastic guitar players. It’s like you mentioned before. I like a lot of stuff. I like more than just blues and I wouldn’t really want to be known as just a blues artist for the rest of my life because there’s so much music out there and there’s so much ground to cover, really. I like loads of soul and country music and all sorts of things.
No, I totally agree – I’ve had this conversation before where, you know, if you only listen to one genre, then that’s all you’re going to sound like, whereas if you have a more open-minded approach, you’re much more likely to sound like you.
Yeah, exactly, yeah. I mean I’m very selective in what I do like, but I like a lot of stuff. And I wouldn’t just want to be, kind of, the typical blues guitarist – I guess – cliché, for lack of a better word. There’s so much stuff out there, so much ground to cover, so much music to be made, so there’s no point, really, restricting yourself to one thing.
I know you’re doing a pretty big set up here in Leicester, on August 2nd, and you’re playing an hour-and-a-half headline show. How do you approach a show of that length – are there any covers you plan to add to help the ebb and flow?
Yeah, when we do covers, it’s normally because I’m trying to pay homage to someone – that kind of thing. So, we do ‘outside woman blues’, which is a Cream cover… but it’s not like super-obvious, but it kinda evokes Cream and all the British blues kinda stuff. We do a Bill Withers song, ‘For my friend’, from one of my favourite albums – ‘live at Carnegie hall’ – we do that in our own style. Yeah, like I say, I don’t like doing too many covers but, when I do do a cover, it’s chosen for a reason.
For me, it’s quite a challenge to get a cover right, because you don’t want to be too close to the original but you still have to capture that vibe that made the song special in the first place…
Yeah, I mean the older I get, the more reluctant I am to do covers, really. When I was younger I was really into in copying stuff and trying to play exactly like a certain person or in a certain way, but these days I’m not really as into that.
With the experiences you’ve had – are you thinking about a second album yet?
Yeah, I am absolutely thinking about it, but it’s just a matter of getting the funds to make it and all that kind of stuff –t he logistics of it all, I guess. It’s very expensive making a record, but yeah, I’m always thinking about it and compiling songs and I’m always writing new stuff, so who knows what’s going to happen…
As a younger artist – are you bothered about physical media – is that something that’s important to you as part of making a record, or are you happy for it to go out in whatever form?
Yeah, I mean, I think physical media is important in all art forms, really. I still like to read books, I like buying vinyl records… because it’s tangible, you know, and I feel like, especially in this day and age, as good as Spotify and all these things are, there is definitely a sort of devaluation of music and, in terms of how much effort goes into making it and how expensive and how time-consuming it is to actually produce music – when people can just get it, you know, so easily with no thought really required, it kind of takes all that away. I just really love physical media. I think it would be sad if it completely went away, but I don’t think it will for that reason.
I’m with you, I’m a huge physical music fan and I like it when an artist makes the effort to add liner notes, great cover art… all that stuff is important.
Yeah, if you go to a gig, right, you want to buy something physical that’s the best thing for me, sometimes. Walking away with an album or whatever, getting it signed maybe…
The other thing that is overlooked with digital media, is that an album is often quite carefully sequenced to take you on a journey for an hour or forty minutes or whatever – was that something you thought about when you’d recorded this album?
I’m not sure it was a challenge necessarily. I did think about that a bit and I think the way it’s sequenced does work and make sense. The songs aren’t super-deep or anything, but there is an arc and they do mean stuff and there’s some thought behind all that side of things. It’s not Dark Side of The Moon or anything, but there was some thought and I didn’t just arbitrarily stick it in an order.
For live sets, too, I know different artists approach things in different ways. For example, Walter Trout and his band know all the songs, so they can adapt the set according to the mood of the audience – how do you approach a live set?
Yeah, it’s normally quite thought out as well. I wish I was the kind of person who could do that, l but at this stage, I really need everything to be kind of clear. I don’t like introducing risk- wherever I can eliminate risk, that’s better for me. It’s the reason I don’t really use pedals or anything. I know a lot of people snub pedals, but I don’t have anything against them necessarily, but the more gear you use, the more chance there is for something to go wrong. It stresses me out and I need to be as relaxed as I possibly can be when I play.
Your main guitar is a Les Paul, isn’t it?
I prefer Humbucker guitars generally – the kind of style and the way I play suits it better I feel.
You get such a nice gritty tone too…
Thank you, yeah!
That’s pretty much it – any final words for your fans?
Just thank you very much for supporting me, I really appreciate the effort. It’s so hard these days to play music, so I’m really grateful for the opportunity to be able to do it and the fact that people like it is just the icing on the cake.
Connor plays The Musician in Leicester on August 2nd – check the event page here.
