QTheMusic.com

Elegantly seated on a large sofa in a plush London hotel, fashionably late Joss (she had "disappeared" for fifteen minutes) is free from the shackles of her formerly day-glo purple hair, and appears far removed from the "hippie diva" tag sometimes cast around in the press.

QTheMusic's agenda is merely to talks about the new album and perhaps shed some light on her long battle with record label EMI (she reportedly offered the label £2M to buy herself of her contract following a creative dispute over the new album), but in addition, we were treated to her views on downloading, the paparazzi and why she would have to be on drugs to go clubbing.

How are you today then?
I'm good. Really tired. Had about three hours sleep last night because my guitarist wanted to hang out.

How does Joss Stone hang out?
Just in bar with friends...yeah. A good night is one where i don't have to dress up, not put on make-up, just go out to a pub with my friends and have a pint. A night where I don't have to worry about people taking my picture and the bloody f**king shoes that are killing you and stuff. Just staying out with your friends until four in the morning and just chill out you know. Being able to smoke inside helps, but that's not happening too much now is it. I don't like nightclubs, the music is really off-putting, I can't stand it. I think you gotta be on drugs to endure it, well I personally do...I would have to be on drugs.

Are you a private person?
It's not that I'm a really private person. It's just nice to not have a paparazzi moment you know? I mean, that's crap. Who wants that? What a ridiculous life.

So you don't get embarrassed if someone puts your album on when you're out?
Oh no! I get excited if anyone's playing my album anywhere, it's great to know that people are listening... know that they like they music, the musicians, the feelings. You know, I've got so many songs that I'm probably never gonna do anything about... but that's the vibe really, just enjoying the moment. But there's a selfish reason why I make music also, I just like doing it.

It's amazing that I'm in a position where [music] is my job, something creative that I like doing... it's like painting, just expressing yourself when you feel like it. That's kinda nice.
It's not something you HAVE to do..well, if you're signed to a label then it something you have to do sometimes, but not me. I choose to be different. I choose freedom,. That's what I've done with this album, but MY GOD you have to pay through the nose for freedom.

It's been well publicised this struggle with your label..
Yeah, I guess people are interested. I don't know why. I didn't think the public cared what EMI is or knew what EMI is, so why does it matter...No, IT DOES matter that it's spoken about. The artists I listened to and looked up to when I was 12, they just sang and looked pretty and performed, and people I listened to was just a CD, but I think if the younger ones had said something about their experiences and about the industry, maybe I would have listened. So i think it's important not to sit there and shut up. It's a shame, because artists today are going in blind, and I think as artists, collectively, we have a responsibility to not let them go in blind.

You recently said the following about EMI's attitude towards your new album: "From a business side of things I kind of get it ... They feel like that's their property and they want to control how the property looks and how it works." Was that merely a thinly disguised insult?

Oh no no, it's not an insult. It's the truth, it's a fact is what it is. They're a business, and I'm a businesswoman, unfortunately, which you have to be unless you have a manager, which I don't, and that's my choice. And in a way I've learned from putting myself in that position. But [EMI] is a business, They've paid money for a product, and that product is theirs for 10-15 years really. And that product is me as a person, not just me as a voice, and that's where the line is muddied.

But yes, if they lose control of their product, they go "hang on a minute, this is not okay, you have to sing what we want you to sing". Really they're just looking for three songs. They don't care about the rest of the album, just the three singles. And also, [they say] "You have to look the way we want you to look, because we signed you and this it what we want you to do. We have given you this money, we have paid for this" and so on...and I just said "I take it back, I'll take a mortgage out". I just want to be a free human being and make the music that I like. I LOVE music! *claps loudly*. So if someone takes that love away from me, I'll be pretty mad.

Would you give your music away for free?
Yes I would. I think it's nice if people choose to pay for it. And this is coming from an artist that is okay, you know... I'll be alright. But it's hard to say that when you're a new artist. People should pay for their records really. But if you can't afford it, why does that mean you can't listen to it? I mean: Music is a gift. It's a gift to me that I got for free. So why does everyone else have to pay through the teeth for it? It should be shared when you're able to share it. When you're not, then sell it.

I do enjoy having something physical in my hands, something I can smell, that should be paid for because there's a lot of work going into it. But I do think downloads are gonna save music in the long run. It's gonna get messy before it gets clean. So there's free downloads... Ok, deal with it, certainly don't try and change it because that is a fight you will lose, we will all lose that fight.

But i think in the long run, the people that can't really sing, that shouldn't sing, that don't do anything themselves.... and there's quite a lot of people like that out there... well, people will download their shit for free and don't go to their shows. And so slowly the real musicians will be able to make music again because they can sing and people will want to see them live. So in a weird, twisted way it may help us... no f**k us, it will help music. And that's what's important, and that's why I'm here.

Joss Stone's new album Colour Me Free is out now.

Interviewer: Brand Barstein

11:42 AM | 11/11/2009