Bombay Bicycle Club’s Jack Steadman felt ’embarrassed’ recording with Chaka Khan
Bombay Bicycle Club frontman Jack Steadman has revealed that he initially felt ‘embarrassed’ when recording a track alongside Chaka Khan.
The news arrives after the band recently teamed up with the music legend to create new track ‘Tekken 2’ – the latest single from their upcoming album ‘My Big Day’.
Now, after dropping the new track earlier this week (October 11), the frontman has revealed in a new interview that he was briefly left red-faced when going to record the song with Khan.
Speaking with The Guardian, he recalled flying to Los Angeles to go to a recording session at an upmarket studio near her home, but soon felt a bit ‘embarrassed’ when it became clear he had no intention of using any of the impressive sound equipment.
“I have this funny memory of walking in and the mixing desk was the size of an entire house,” he explained. “I’d just brought my laptop and plugged Chaka into that, but I thought it was so embarrassing that I wasn’t using all this stuff.”
“[I felt daunted ] until I stepped into the room,” he added. “Chaka’s family all showed up and the whole vibe was so communal and supportive. And Chaka herself was really down to earth. I immediately felt relaxed.”
As reported by the outlet, Khan wasn’t fazed at all by Steadman not using the array of equipment, and recalled that she actually “thought that was really cool.” She continued, showing her appreciation for the finished product: “I really liked the song and the message was right up my alley, in line with my philosophy.”
‘Tekken 2’ is the latest song to be taken from the forthcoming album, ‘My Big Day’, which is set for release next Friday (October 20). It will also feature many other famous faces, including collaborations with Damon Albarn, Jay Som, Nilüfer Yanya and Holly Humberstone.
The collaboration with the latter arrived earlier this year in the form of new single ‘Diving’. Other singles released so far include ‘Turn The World On’, ‘I Want To Be Your Only Pet’ and the title track. Pre-order the album here.
In light of the upcoming LP – which will be the band’s sixth studio album – Steadman and co. also announced plans for a new 2024 headline tour across the UK and Ireland earlier this week.
The tour will kick off on January 29 with a show in Belfast and run until February 18, where it closes with a gig in Cardiff. Tickets go on sale from October 27, although pre-sale options are also available and will go live on October 25. Visit here to find your tickets.
In other Bombay Bicycle Club news, the band recently spoke as part of NME‘s In Conversation series, and opened up about their collaboration with Blur and Gorillaz frontman, Damon Albarn.
“I actually went and played him the album, ‘cause I value his opinion a lot. It was just one song, where instead of giving me a few notes or feedback, he just got his engineer to bring him a microphone and just started singing this melody,” revealed Steadman. “It was kind of a curse as well as a blessing. It’s so good but am I ever going to persuade him to actually finish it and write the lyrics?”
The post Bombay Bicycle Club’s Jack Steadman felt ’embarrassed’ recording with Chaka Khan appeared first on NME.
Liberty Dunworth
NME
