Ed Watson sits down with James Page, the man behind hotly-tipped singer-songwriter Sivu.

Your pseudonym ÔÇÿSivuÔÇÖ is a Finnish translation of your actual surname, Page. How did this come about?

IÔÇÖve been┬áplaying┬áacoustic stuff under James Page since I was about 15. Then I moved to London and started writing the newer songs that you hear on my EPs. I think the first problem was that James Page is obviously the guitarist of Led Zeppelin, so there was that initial issue ÔÇô and I thought, ÔÇÿI better change thatÔÇÖ. But yeah, the music was going in a different direction and I just wanted a fresh start. I wanted a name that would be a bit different but would incorporate me into it somehow, so I Google translated ÔÇÿPageÔÇÖ, found ÔÇÿSivuÔÇÖ; and it just felt right so I stuck with it.

 

There are a lot of names youÔÇÖve been compared to recently, including Wild Beasts, Other Lives and Gotye. How would you describe your sound?

Yeah well fundamentally it is just pop music, but I think there is also a strong alternative edge to it with the things I listen to normally like Bjork, Wild Beasts and Deftones. But yeah… alternative, ambient, acoustic are fair phrases I think. There is also certainly an essence of folk there too ÔÇô I do write all of my songs on the acoustic guitar. But I think listening to artists like Gotye and Beck ÔÇô they are songwriters but they do things in perhaps not the most obvious way. They arenÔÇÖt just singer-songwriters with guitars, but rather have a greater focus on production. There are loads of great artists doing similar things. I think I try to put a spin on the singer-songwriter notion too.

 

So youÔÇÖre working on your album at the moment. How has it been working with Alt-JÔÇÖs producer, Charlie Andrew?

Yeah itÔÇÖs been amazing. WeÔÇÖre really good friends, and weÔÇÖve been working together for the past 2 years throughout this whole process. HeÔÇÖs helped me so much to kind of figure out who I am as an artist, how to shape my songs, and how to put the sound on it that would help me progress. IÔÇÖm really proud of what weÔÇÖve done so far.

 

A lot of your recorded songs are heavily textured. How does this transform into a live scenario? Do you think about this a lot when youÔÇÖre in the studio?

Yeah, ItÔÇÖs been the hardest thing to do. When we went on tour a couple of months back it was just myself and the two string players, Kirsty and Rachel, who played all the string parts on the recorded tracks. We kept it quite understated, but then I really wanted to ÔÇÿup-itÔÇÖ for future tours and try to incorporate more of the sound from the record. WeÔÇÖve got a drummer now, some keyboards, synths, a bass in there. I kind of think with each tour we will try to push ourselves a little bit further. But I think the live set-up is in its early stages at the moment, and I wouldnÔÇÖt want what it is now to be what it is in a yearÔÇÖs time. ItÔÇÖs sometimes a little hard when we record 20 piece string sections, and I think ÔÇÿyeah, thatÔÇÖs not gonna work liveÔÇÖ, but right now I think weÔÇÖre going in the right direction.

 

A recurring theme in a number of your songs, especially ÔÇÿBodiesÔÇÖ, is Biblical references. Are you a religious person and do you think using such references help you to express yourself in song?

No, IÔÇÖve never been religious. The whole thing started because my friend Simon told me the story about St. Christopher and how he carried people on his back. Because in the past I was always writing songs more obviously personal, old stories that we were taught in school ÔÇô like NoahÔÇÖs Ark which was the story for ÔÇÿBodiesÔÇÖ ÔÇô just seemed a lot more interesting and helped me with moving forwards in terms of song writing. People can relate to the mental image of those stories┬áwhether they are religious or not. I just found a way of talking about myself using analogies derived from those stories. I think I now try to paint more of a picture of a song rather than being quite obvious; itÔÇÖs a lot more interesting that way.