Michael Kiwanuka: stars of 2012

Soul sensation: Hailed in January as the BBC Sound of 2012, Michael Kiwanuka has since toured the US and Europe and was nominated for the Mercury prize for his debut album, Home Again

What was your best moment this year?
Releasing my debut album, that's the main thing. Touring's been fun and meeting musicians that I've listened to. I got to do a track [Lassan] with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys in February. That was fun – working with a really good musician who's really experienced as well; everything feels quite exciting and where you want it to be. It's inspiring.

Did you meet any of your musical heroes?

When I was supporting Alabama Shakes in LA, Bill Withers came to the show, then came backstage and met everyone. That's probably the most star-struck I've been. He didn't want to talk about music so much, he just wanted to talk about life! He was telling us stories about his band members and London, and how he finds it funny watching people going through the same things he did when he was younger.

Did he give you any advice?

He said the main thing with music is to put your personality in it, because that's ultimately what people like and why they buy a ticket to your show. That was nice to hear.

What's happening for you in 2013?

I need to work on the second album, so I'm going to go back to America and go to Australia for a bit, mainly recording.


Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again on MUZU.TV.

Contributor

Corinne Jones

The GuardianTramp

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