Fabiana Palladino joins Matt Wilkinson today (8th May) on Apple Music 1 to talk about the release of her debut album, working with Jai Paul and performing live. She also discusses what it was like growing up in a musical family and seeing her dad, Pino Palladino perform with D'Angelo.
Fabiana Palladino discusses her debut album and how long she worked on it for…
In terms of the solid length of time, probably three years, but there was years running up to that where there were certain songs like ‘Stay With Me’ ‘Through the Night,’ where they were in the works for a couple of years before that. I'm quite lucky that everyone I'm surrounded with has accepted my pace for a start, but also encouraged it and trusted that I have to get it right and I have to feel like I'm happy with it because I have this fear of putting anything out that I'm not completely happy with. And I can't live with the regret.
Fabiana Palladino talks about the launch of her album…
We did an in-store at Rough Trade East, which I was so happy with because playing a show and getting to play the album and have all my friends and family there. It was the perfect way to celebrate. I was really nervous before it, in a way that I haven't been for a long time. Just the build up, it all hit me just before I went on stage. It dawned on me what it meant, this long period of time that it's taken to get here and that my family would be there, and all the people that worked on the album, there's a lot of friends that were there that played on it or helped with production and the label were there and it just felt like, "Okay, this is quite big actually."
Fabiana Palladino talks working with Jai Paul…
Jai had heard some music I had on SoundCloud and he sent me an email, which I was very surprised by. And I was a bit like, is this the real Jai Paul? I knew his music and I was a fan, but I didn't know him personally and didn't really have any connection with him. So it was surprising. We met around the time he and AK were starting to think about Paul Institute and what this thing could be that they had an idea for. It coincided with a time where I didn't quite know what to do next in terms of putting out music. I had this music that I'd written on my own and I needed just some guidance on what direction to go in, it was perfect timing for me.
They're great and so encouraging. They're definitely not like your typical label guys. But they've been very supportive and it's an unusual situation because obviously I work on the music with Jai, but at the same time, him and AK put it out. So I would say it's a very instinctive way of working, where it's just about the music and it's about what the artist wants to do and it's totally led by the artist really.
There's no sense of rushing with them. I think that's such a brilliant thing because there's such a pressure to keep putting out music and keep your numbers up. There's such a fear of being forgotten about and they don't worry about that. I think that's fantastic, that's true artistry.
Fabiana Palladino talks her musical family, including her father Pino Palladino…
I didn't really see myself doing that [being a musician] to be honest, until maybe my very late teens, early twenties. It was a super musical household. But in terms of a career, of course I was surrounded by that as an option or seeing it as an option. But I don't know, I didn't naturally see myself falling into that kind of role.
Matt Wilkinson: What changed then? Can you pinpoint it?
Fabiana: I think it was just experience and meeting people and making friends in music or playing in bands, which I did naturally because I went to uni and went to do English and I ended up switching to the music course because I didn't really know what to do. I was never a super ambitious kid. I fell into this crowd of friends and played in bands. I think slowly over time I was lucky enough to be encouraged by a few people here and there, and I slowly began to see that that could be an option for me. My parents are super encouraging, but it was never pushed as a career option or anything like that. But we were lucky enough to have access to instruments and technology, so they always encouraged us to play. And my parents both literally taught us musical stuff.
Fabiana Palladino discusses seeing her dad perform with D'Angelo…
One of the key ones was we went out to New York. I must've been about 12 because my dad was playing with D'Angelo and it was the Voodoo tour. And we hadn't seen him for months because he'd been on the road and we saw D'Angelo at Radio City and it's a really vivid memory for me because, musically, I'd never heard anything like that. And I think we knew, I was old enough to understand it was a special record and it was very special for my dad and it was a new phase for him. And it was just such an intense gig, it was really theatrical. And D'Angelo obviously is one of the most incredible performers ever. So yeah, I have extremely vivid memories and I think it really influenced me massively.
Fabiana Palladino talks about her own live shows…
They've been great. They've been really good and I didn't expect to enjoy them as much as I did. It's a lot of pressure. And although I've played for other people and dealt with some relatively high pressure situations. Doing your own show, even if it's a small one, it's a whole new level of attention. But no, I've really enjoyed them and I've got an amazing band and that's been the most exciting part of it, is being able to play this music with my friends and people that I love working with.
