{"id":150442,"date":"2023-04-04T14:27:50","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T13:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=150442"},"modified":"2023-04-04T14:27:50","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T13:27:50","slug":"jimmy-napes-on-unholy-sam-smith-and-never-taking-success-for-granted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/jimmy-napes-on-unholy-sam-smith-and-never-taking-success-for-granted\/","title":{"rendered":"Jimmy Napes on Unholy, Sam Smith, and never taking success for granted"},"content":{"rendered":"

MBW\u2019s World\u2019s Greatest Songwriters series celebrates the composers behind the globe\u2019s biggest hits. Here we meet Jimmy Napes, the Oscar- and Grammy-winning British songwriter who has written with and for Sam Smith, Taylor Swift, Alicia Keys and many more. World\u2019s Greatest Songwriters is supported by AMRA<\/a> \u2013 the global digital music collection society which strives to maximize value for songwriters and publishers in the digital age.<\/p>\n

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As the wedding DJ dropped Clean Bandit\u2019s\u00a0Rather Be<\/em>, Jimmy Napes couldn\u2019t help but smile.<\/p>\n

Just a few years ago, Napes was the harassed guy behind the decks, knowing his choice of records was responsible for getting the happy couple\u2019s family and friends up and dancing, and putting the seal on what could be the best day of their lives.<\/p>\n

Now, one of the songs he\u2019d written was doing that job, without him having to worry about lugging all his gear back to South London at 4am.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I\u2019d written some songs that got played at weddings, I knew I was on to a good thing,\u201d he grins. \u201cI was at a wedding and I heard\u00a0Rather Be<\/em>\u00a0and it was one of those \u2018Practise gratitude, thank God for that!\u2019 moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Napes learned a lot from his stint as a reluctant mobile disco operator \u2013 chiefly to \u201cwork twice, three times, five times as hard on the songwriting, because I didn\u2019t want to be doing that forever \u2013 I fucking hated it to be honest!\u201d<\/p>\n

Luckily, Napes has been writing the perfect songs to soundtrack life\u2019s big moments for quite a while now. But if it seemed like he became an overnight success when his 2012\/13 lava-hot streak saw Disclosure\u2019s\u00a0Latch<\/em>, Naughty Boy\u2019s\u00a0La La La<\/em>, Sam Smith\u2019s\u00a0Lay Me Down<\/em>\u00a0and Clean Bandit\u2019s\u00a0Rather Be<\/em>\u00a0all drop in rapid succession, the reality was rather different.<\/p>\n

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Napes was sure enough of his destiny to inform his parents that, aged 14, he was going to become a professional songwriter (\u201cIt was before I\u2019d even done my GCSEs, and they were looking at me like, \u2018Just slow down there, partner!\u2019\u201d). But it was over a decade from that chat before he had a true hit, years spent writing music for commercials at Mophonics (most notably a jingle for an Apple iPod Nano ad) and DJ-ing at those weddings and in South London clubs to scrape together a living, while furiously working on his writing in every spare moment.<\/p>\n

Everything changed when he met a young singer called Sam Smith. On the very first day they met, they wrote\u00a0Lay Me Down<\/em>\u00a0together (with their mutual friend Elvin Smith, who introduced them). Napes emailed the song to his managers, Jack Street and Sam Evitt of Method Music, and the reaction was instant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey called me back within a minute-and-a-half and the song\u2019s four minutes long!\u201d he laughs. \u201cSo I knew we had to be doing something right!\u201d<\/p>\n

Napes and Smith have been causing reactions like that ever since, as two halves of one of the greatest songwriting partnerships in modern music. Right now, they\u2019re red hot again, with\u00a0Unholy<\/em>\u00a0(feat. Kim Petras) \u2013 written in Jamaica over rum cocktails during a lockdown curfew \u2013 proving to be both a historic moment (Petras is the first transgender solo artist to score a No.1 single) and the biggest hit of even Smith\u2019s stellar career.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a hit never hurts,\u201d Napes grins. \u201cI\u2019ve always gone by the philosophy that you\u2019re only as good as your last song, because it keeps you on your toes, keeps you hungry and it\u2019s nice to be in demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

In February, Napes and Smith returned to the Grammy Awards for the first time since Smith won four (including Record and Song of the Year for Stay With Me) in 2015 (the duo also won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 2016 for their Bond theme, Writing\u2019s On The Wall). This time, Smith and Petras picked up the Best Pop Duo\/Group Performance Grammy, and Napes confirms he\u2019s now in the middle of another wave of \u201cridiculous calls\u201d from A-list artists wanting to work with him.<\/p>\n

And while he is no devotee of the limelight \u2013 he loves being able to do the school run without attracting any undue attention or having to go on the road \u2013 he certainly works hard to make sure the world\u2019s top talent keep him on speed dial for whenever they need a co-writer or producer.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why, as he sits in his discreet North London studio, he\u2019s able to chat warmly about Mary J Blige jetting into London to work with him; Alicia Keys flying him out to New York for a session; Taylor Swift calling to ask if he wanted to make a Christmas record (Christmas Tree Farm); or Sting sending him to the corner shop to buy him a cheese-and-pickle sandwich (\u201cthat was particularly surreal\u201d) during a session with Disclosure.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m extraordinarily grateful for every day I get to make music for a living, because I know how hard I worked to get here.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s why, the morning after the Grammys celebrations, Napes was booked into a studio with an artist he really wanted to work with (\u201cWho books a session the morning after the Grammys? Someone that\u2019s got to fly home to their kids and really wants to make the most of the trip!\u201d).<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why he can enthuse about a packed diary full of sessions with both \u2018top secret\u2019 superstars and brand-new artists.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always nice to be in demand,\u201d he says as he settles down to chat to\u00a0MBUK\u00a0in a rare interview. \u201cI\u2019m extraordinarily grateful for every day I get to make music for a living, because I know how hard I worked to get here. I\u2019ll never take it for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/figure>Did you set out to do something completely different with\u00a0Unholy<\/em>?<\/h6>\n

Sam did. We\u2019d had enough of piano ballads, we\u2019ve written our fair share of those. It was more for us than anything, we just wanted to try a different direction.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s become that record you can\u2019t get away from, which is a great thing. Because it\u2019s such a different record, we\u2019d be lying if we said we thought it was going to do what it\u2019s done.<\/p>\n

What we knew is that we were pushing boundaries musically, going into areas we hadn\u2019t been to before and that was exciting. So it\u2019s really nice that that\u2019s been rewarded with the success of
\nthe song.<\/p>\n

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Did you realize what a game-changer it would be for everyone?<\/h6>\n

Yeah. It\u2019s an important one too because it\u2019s at that stage of Sam\u2019s career where they\u2019re on their fourth album \u2013 a lot of artists don\u2019t make it to that number, and to have the biggest hit of your career on your fourth album says a lot about your longevity.<\/p>\n

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How do you feel about the right-wing backlash against the song and the Grammys performance?<\/h6>\n

If you\u2019re not upsetting somebody, you\u2019re doing something wrong! I like supporting artists on their journey, it\u2019s part of what I love to do \u2013 and if you\u2019re not growing, you\u2019re dead, right?<\/p>\n

Sam and I are very good friends, so I always want to make sure they\u2019re good \u2013 and they are, because they\u2019ve never been more themselves.<\/p>\n

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When you first met Sam, did you instantly know what an amazing creative partnership you\u2019d have?<\/h6>\n

I didn\u2019t, but I did know Sam had the best voice I\u2019d ever heard. I couldn\u2019t quite believe that voice was real. When we wrote\u00a0Lay Me Down<\/em>, I still remember I had full goosebumps up and down my arms. I was playing the piano and it\u2019s one of those feelings you can\u2019t forget, it felt like magic.<\/p>\n

The goosebumps don\u2019t lie, I always tell myself \u2013 sometimes if the session\u2019s not going well, you\u2019re trying to force things, but you can never do that. You have to let it come to you and the goosebumps are the key indicator when something\u2019s going well.<\/p>\n

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How often do the goosebumps come?<\/h6>\n

Not often! I wish I got them more, but that\u2019s how you know, they\u2019re very honest.<\/p>\n

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Why do you think you and Sam work so well together?<\/h6>\n

It\u2019s to do with the fact we\u2019re so close. We really trust one another; we can tell each other anything and that helps.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve just built up a partnership and we complement one another. I think we\u2019ll always work together. We can\u2019t shake each other now, we\u2019re stuck!<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve always had a relationship where Sam works with lots of different people, and I go off and work with lots of different people. But we both recognise that something special happens when we work together.<\/p>\n

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Is it very different when you work with someone else?<\/h6>\n

I have good relationships with most of the artists I work with. We work together multiple times and have built trust \u2013 it\u2019s important to do that.<\/p>\n

“I like artists to feel they can trust me, and I can trust them, because it\u2019s in those safe spaces that you get the most magic.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You\u2019re telling a lot of your personal life stories in these moments, so I like artists to feel they can trust me, and I can trust them, because it\u2019s in those safe spaces that you get the most magic.<\/p>\n

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Is that harder to do in the modern world of multiple co-writers?<\/h6>\n

It is slightly different. But what I\u2019ve worked out is, as long as everyone in the room is cool, it doesn\u2019t change anything. If everyone\u2019s willing to be honest, put their best foot forward and let the best idea win, then it doesn\u2019t matter how many people are in the room.<\/p>\n

With\u00a0Unholy<\/em>, there were six or seven people involved and it worked out great, because everyone\u2019s so great at what they do and lets everyone breathe and contribute ideas.<\/p>\n

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