I received an email the other day from a PR company with the new single from an immensely talented young lady called YASMIN KIDDLE. I receive about 50 emails a day and as I was browsing through them, something caught my eye. It mentioned that STEVE CRADOCK (Ocean Colour Scene) heard one of her tracks over the phone and took it upon himself to arrange a meeting with her and offered her the use of his and Paul Weller’s studios to record her debut EP. Being a massive OCS and Weller fan, I wanted to learn more about this fantastic lady. We got in touch with her people and they were kind enough to hook us up with Yasmin for a quick chat about how it felt to work with Steve Cradock, her thoughts on the music scene in 2019 and how she feels about opening up for Ocean Colour Scene at three Scottish live shows, here’s how we got on….

Yasmin, we know you're an immensely talented singer songwriter from North London who can play guitar, bass, drums and piano, please would you tell me something about you that not many people know?

I used to play a lot of football growing up! Still love a little kick about now.

You played The Dublin Castle last October to launch your EP 'The Precede', being a local lady, I would imagine that this was quite a big deal? Was it well attended with friends and family? (I guess it was something of a homecoming show)

Yeah it really was! For me, it felt more like a celebration. The last time I played DC my friends where too young to get in! And in between that time I had stopped playing music so it felt really good to have that support.

Your new track 'Desire' leads the way for new material, tell me what the track is all about and how you came to write it? Are you planning on releasing a new EP soon?

It’s about the initial & undeniable connection you have with someone. I wrote in on reflection of me and my girlfriend meeting. For me, Desire is a good introduction another side of my music. People often ask what genre I define myself as, but I could come under many ‘categories’.

Yes! There is an EP on the way, you can stay updated through my socials (@yasminkiddle). So much more material in the pipeline after as well!

I read that Bart O’Sullivan introduced you to Steve Cradock from Ocean Colour Scene, how did you feel when you heard that he was interested in your music? Do you remember the first thing you said to him when you met?

At that stage I was just writing music for myself, I didn’t exactly have plans for people to hear it. I knew the song he heard wasn’t an overly technical song, so it was quite daunting. However, the fact he heard something in that song showed to me that we were on the same wavelength when it came to music, and that definitely has proved to be right! I cant remember what I first said to him, but I arrived to his very late in the night so didn’t see him until the next morning. I met the family dog Noodles before I met Steve! I do remember that I woke up to him blasting tunes out at 6am from his studio, he’s an early bird for sure!

You used to record in your bedroom and you were recently recording in Paul Weller's studio (absolute legend that he is!) - I imagine the equipment in there was a little more advanced than what you were used to working with, did it take long to get to grips with it all?

Paul’s place was a dream! We mastered the first EP ‘The Precede’ there, it was definitely a big contrast to my home studio. But it is a very homely and relaxing place to be.

How would you describe the state of the music scene in Britain right now? Any artists that you feel are really flying the flag at the moment?

There are incredible artists coming through right now that are really making a mark, Loyle Carner isn’t going anywhere, he’s incredibly talented. Stormzy has just made history at Glastonbury. Both of those guys, amongst other artists like Slow Thai and Joy Crookes are so raw and naturally talented - I think its great that real people are at the top of the game right now.

Which bands or artists excite you? Why?

Nao and Frank Ocean because they manage to be experimental but still keep soul, incredible melodies and raw emotions in their music. They give me those goosebump moments.

You are playing 3 shows in Scotland supporting the mighty Ocean Colour Scene - How do you feel about that?

I’m feeling so grateful that I’ve been invited back to support them again, really glad it won’t be as cold as last time, which was in December! Excited to see some familiar faces and, as always, excited to watch them kill their shows!

Tell me honestly, were you aware of Steve Cradock and Ocean Colour Scene prior to Bart introducing you?

Ha! Good question, I was aware of OCS’s bigger hits, but since linking up with them I’ve discovered so many gems. Aside from OCS I had definitely seen Steve play alongside Paul Weller.

Please name 3 bands or artists that we should be checking out right now….

Loyle Carner, Joy Crookes & Col3trane

If you could only listen to 3 albums from now until you die, which 3 would they be and why?

It’s so hard to choose between the two Frank Ocean albums, I fell in love with him through Channel Orange but Blonde has been on repeat in my life for a long time now!

I’ll go for;

1. Frank Ocean’s album Blonde, it really allows me to sit with my emotions - it helps to me to acknowledge my emotions and to then deal with how I’m feeling kind of like a therapy without having to speak (and it sounds so good).

2. Voyager by Moonchild will be my second, its the soundtrack to a happy day for me.

3. Amy Winehouse’s Frank because it’s timeless!

Finally, I'm guessing that last 12 months have been somewhat of a whirlwind for you, what's next for Yasmin Kiddle?

Keep writing more music, continue travelling loads, play more shows and enjoy all these crazy experiences that get thrown my way!

We’d like to thank Yasmin for sparing the time to chat to us literally hours before taking to the stage to open up a show for Ocean Colour Scene, we’ll definitely be watching out for her in the future, I suggest you do the same!

Her new single ‘Desire’ is out NOW.

Keep up to date with her whereabouts at the following sites;

Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/YasminKiddle/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/YasminKiddle

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminkiddle/?hl=en

Website: https://www.yasminkiddle.com