Benjamin Clementine’s last album & final headline show: A farewell at The Troxy

Critically acclaimed British actor, composer, musician and Mercury Prize-winning Benjamin Clementine is currently on the European leg of his tour, which culminates in London at the iconic venue, the Troxy, on April 10th. In this interview, he reveals that this will be the last ever opportunity to see him play a headline show, what to expect at The Troxy, and why his upcoming album, Sir Introvert and the Featherweights, will be his last.

The Troxy, London, is the final tour date of your current tour. How does it feel to be playing a gig in your home city very soon? Do you find it more special, or emotional to play to a home crowd?

London will always be special, there's no doubt about that. I'm very emotional about playing in London. It's like going back to your family. There's always an argument here and there, and there's always a hug! I am very much looking forward to playing in London. 

London's audience can be like a Swiss audience, and when I say Swiss audience, I mean they can look like they're cold, but they’re actually listening to the music. Sometimes you might think that people don't care about music, but that's just the culture, and that's how they are. 

But at the same time, London also has an Italian response, which is, they're very vocal. When I'm performing, they're singing my song, and they're very loud, so London has both sides. It’s always the question of, ‘How are they going to receive it? Are they going to receive it in a Swiss style, or in an Italian style?’

Do you find yourself overthinking more about your performance for a home crowd?

Yes. I'm very critical of myself when I'm playing in London because of the language and the culture. As an artist, one shouldn't think about what others think of them, but I become more aware of what I'm doing and what I stand for. 

I question my ability, not in a musical sense, because I do believe I'm gifted in that field, but in terms of literature. I question whether I'm a poet, because there are poets that I highly regard. 

My culture is English culture, and when I come to England, I think about poets like William Blake, for example. I say to myself, ‘Will people see me as gifted in that same field as William Blake?’ or will they say, ‘He's just a singer who's singing a couple of songs?’ I get more conscious about that when I'm in London, specifically.

What have you got planned for the London show date, especially given it’s the final date on the tour? And given that you have said your next album will be your last, is this the last ever chance for people to catch a headline show of yours?

In terms of a headline show, it will be my last. I've always been artistically conservative. What I mean by that is that I've been very anti-computer for a long time when it comes to making music. I make music with analogue equipment, so I'm trying to do something different by using electronics and performing my music using computers. 

But here's the thing, sometimes things do go wrong, and the computer says no. For example, that's what happened yesterday. A computer said no, so I had to revert to my human instincts, and then I had to play the piano all by myself. There were five of us on stage, but in the end, I went back to how I started. 

I played the old songs, which I love, but I want to move on and create something new. So that's what I'm willing to give to my London audience.

Are you performing many songs from the upcoming album?

Yes, however, I want to do things a little bit differently. It’s always been that one releases a single, and then they release an album, and then they go on tour to perform the album. 

Just getting people to recognise an album or a new piece of music or art on stage, without even announcing it to them, is something that I think could be much more appreciated than it being online and ready to be given out immediately.

The Troxy is a special venue. It’s a beautiful Grade II-listed Art Deco music venue which is considered a vital part of East London's history. It was built as a cinema in 1933, and it was the largest cinema in England at that time. The first film shown at the cinema was King Kong. It closed in 1960 and became a training school for the London Opera Centre. In the 1980s, the building was used as a bingo hall, and the Troxy was converted to a live events space in 2006, where it has since hosted legendary artists. How does it feel to join that lineage with your headline show?

It's emotional, because growing up in London, I never thought I’d play in places like that. I didn't think I’d become a musical artist, let alone play in places like that. So it brings out a lot of emotions. I'm grateful. I haven't played there before. I'm looking forward to it because I've heard a lot about it, but I've never seen anyone there. 

When I was growing up, my parents were quite conservative Christians, so we weren't allowed to watch musicians playing secular music, so I'd never really watched any shows, but I eventually discovered the stories and all these beautiful places that are the culture of England.

Sir Introvert and the Featherweights marks the end of a musical journey, as you are now venturing into the realms of film entertainment, having recently starred in Dune. Will this be your last album?

I do want it to be, and it probably will be. I can't foresee the future. What I would say is that I just don't want to do this anymore. There's a new path, not necessarily acting, but I'm honest with my audience, so I still hope that there's a new door opening, and I would love them to come with me on this new journey that is not going to be music.

It will be in the form of a film. I've discovered film the same way I've discovered music. I never wanted to be a musician, and I never in a million years thought that I would do any acting. The way it came to me was as organic as the way music came to me. 

So right now, I feel that it's time to tell my audience, if nothing happens after this in terms of music, that I've just followed this new path.

The music has drawn to a close. The skill that I have used for music, I'm using that same passion, and I'm taking those same weapons or equipment, and I'm bringing them into this new world, or this new chapter. 

So they won't hear music, but it will be in the form of theatre. It'll be in the form of a film. When I started making music, I didn't make any money, and I feel like I am back to square one with that in that I'm starting afresh again, because I'm nobody in the acting world.

Sir Introvert And The Featherweights has been described as an exploration of marriage, love, friendship, heartbreak, sobriety, family reconciliations and the importance of the willingness to change at the face of divine peril. What inspired you to tackle these themes at this stage of your career?

What I was going through at that time inspired it, and that's to do with marriage. Specifically to do with being a husband, and how when you're going through certain difficult things, you start to think whether it's all worth it. What is the significance of marriage? 

We get the point of it. But is it realistic? Is this just for the status quo? I had to battle a lot within myself, and also coming from a family where my father moved on from my mother, and my stepmother too. 

I didn't know how similar I was to my dad, so I had to battle and work hard to make sure that I don't go to that place, because I am very important to my family. I'm a very good father, and I'm a very good husband. But there are traits that you learn when you grow up in a household where certain things are done differently, from how I guess a ‘normal family’ will do things. 

I don't want to use the word trauma, because I think that word is overused. It's just being aware that you need to change, and I need to have a different perspective on things, and be more compassionate and empathetic.

Sir Introvert and the Featherweights is an interesting title. What is the meaning behind this?

Almost all my life, I've been an introvert. So whenever I get the opportunity to converse with people, I end up sharing more than I should be sharing. Then what happens is I go back to my little hole again, but then that's a problem, because then I feel horrible. 

I don't have close friends, so when I meet people who make me believe that we can be friends, it ends up being very awkward because I'm in this position where I then become very vulnerable. So I go into my little hole for a couple of months. I've just been doing this for a long time. 

So the album starts from there. There's a song called Sir Introvert, and he would rather just stay in his hole and not have to deal with the fickle nature of society, and Featherweights is a woman, man, or a living thing in the room that is trying to persuade me to come outside.

When is the new album coming out?

Eventually, I will release these songs, and eventually I will release the album. When I say eventually, I'm not saying next year, I'm saying in one or two months.

See Benjamin Clementine - for his very last headline show - live at The Troxy in London on April 10th by clicking here.

Listen to the full interview below: