Andrew Lloyd Webber shared his thoughts on this year’s UK Eurovision entry (Picture: Adela Loconte/Shutterstock)
The biggest night in songwriting will take London by storm on Thursday when the Ivor Novello awards unfold at Grosvenor House.
But two nights beforehand, the craft of songwriting was celebrated at an even bigger venue: the London Palladium.
On Tuesday, Alastair Webber hosted The Other Songs Live, a trailblazing event that not only championed the planet’s greatest songwriting talent, but also spotlighted emerging writers, providing them a space to showcase their artistry.
A few hours before iconic composers including A R Rahman, Dave Stewart and the one and only Andrew Lloyd Webber (who just so happens to be 31-year-old Alastair’s dad) took to the stage, we had the pleasure of catching up with Alastair and his world-famous parent to talk all things songwriting.
But first thing’s first: did Andrew, 75, manage to catch Eurovision on Sunday? After all, he famously co-wrote Jade Ewen’s track It’s My Time, which was Britain’s 2009 entry.
Unfortunately, Andrew told Metro.co.uk he wasn’t able to catch this year’s song contest.
Andrew and his son Alastair caught up with Metro.co.uk shortly before The Other Songs Live kicked off (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images for The Other Songs)
Alastair and his dad delighted The Other Songs Live ticket holders when they sat down for a chat on Tuesday evening (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images for The Other Songs)
The Other Songs Live was a rip-roaring success (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images for The Other Songs)
‘I didn’t [watch it] because it was the opening preview of Aspect’s Love,’ he said with a smile.
But when the world-renowned composer rewatched Britain’s 2023 entry Mae Muller’s performance back, he noticed that something was off.
‘When I heard it back on Sunday, before I got home, Alastair said, “That’s a different mix of the song I heard”.’
Andrew added: ‘Something went wrong with the sound. Because the song is rather good.’
Alastair then explained: ‘If you listen to it live the vocals are very low in the mix so you miss that crucial melody in the chorus. I think that had a massive impact on our performance.’
When Andrew rewatched Britain’s 2023 entry Mae Muller’s performance back, he noticed that something was off (Picture: AP)
Right, back to Other Songs Live. When it comes to championing budding songwriters, no one’s quite as passionate as Alastair.
So, what advice would he give people trying to break into the profession?
‘You’re only a song away from making a career. Songwriters have to work hard, like everybody else. They have to be in the right rooms, in the right sessions. And they have to keep going.’
He went on: ‘You have to be social, you have to be ambitious. And don’t get too down on yourself, because you’re only a song away from having that moment.’
The Ivors aside, songwriting’s certainly made its fair share of headlines recently, mostly thanks to Ed Sheeran’s recent copyright infringement lawsuit.
When it comes to championing budding songwriters, no one’s quite as passionate as Alastair (Picture: Instagram/theothersongs)
The Shivers hitmaker was accused of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On in his track Thinking Out Loud, but emerged victorious.
We were keen to hear what Alastair thought of the trial.
‘It was a fantastic win for Ed Sheeran and a fantastic win for the music industry as a whole,’ he beamed.
‘Those four chords have been used by hundreds of thousands of songwriters over centuries. It’s a big win.’
Alastair looked slightly more solemn when he added: ‘The real test will be when AI starts taking shape and what that means and how we can protect ourselves as an industry.’
Dad Andrew also had some thoughts on artificial intelligence, which he was quick to share.
Alastair said of Ed Sheeran’s trial: ‘It was a fantastic win for Ed Sheeran and a fantastic win for the music industry as a whole’ (Picture: Instagram/alastairwebber)
Andrew shared his thoughts on artificial intelligence (Picture: Getty)
‘If you feed into an AI machine, say, my music and Ed Sheeran’s and say, “I want a song which has 30% Andrew Lloyd Webber and 70% Ed Sheeran,” I’m sure it could do that.
‘But what it can’t do is something that’s totally original, that’s the thing.’
As someone who’s not only carved out their own (majorly) impressive career in the industry, but also happens to be the son of one of the most influential composers of all time, what has Alastair learned so far?
‘I’ve become obsessed with this idea that songwriters are really undervalued in our society,’ he told us.
‘One of the things which stands out for me is the lack of compensation that songwriters receive in the streaming era.’
He adds: ‘Songwriters are not recognised enough in our industry and that’s something we want to try and fix.’
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Metro.co.uk spoke to the legendary composer.
