0:00

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0:02

you can listen to Bridenhand early

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and ad-free on Amazon Music. Download

0:08

the app today.

0:13

I've run into Alfiebo several

0:16

times. Oh, I sound like Wogan.

0:18

I didn't mean to. Oh,

0:21

easy mother. Several times

0:23

over the years, at

0:25

a café in St. Margaret's where we both

0:28

seemed to congregate. As

0:30

I recall, and we touch on this briefly

0:32

in the interview, he was living in

0:34

a flat that belonged to Pete Townsend. Anyway,

0:37

we'll have to talk about that the next time. He

0:40

was full of beans, mixed

0:43

up with the taxis.

0:43

He was 20 minutes late,

0:45

but it didn't matter. I didn't hold

0:48

it against him. We talk about

0:50

all sorts, working with the nightmare

0:53

that is Michael Ball. I wouldn't

0:56

wish it on anyone. As

0:59

well as somebody in the room laughing, that's good. Always

1:01

a good sign. Working

1:04

in Las Vegas, standing on the spot

1:06

that Elvis stood on before joining

1:08

the stage. And his remarkable

1:11

story of how he began

1:13

in the business. A proper

1:15

kind of rags to riches Hollywood

1:17

biopic when he's polishing

1:19

cars and somebody hears

1:22

him singing and says, hey kid,

1:24

you got talent. You ought to pursue that. This

1:27

was in Blackpool, so he wouldn't have sounded

1:29

like that. Please sit back. Please

1:32

relax. Please put down

1:34

your prejudices and enjoy

1:36

Brydon and Alfiebo.

1:46

Hey everybody. Welcome to

1:48

the show, Alfiebo. Thank you so much,

1:51

Rob. There's not many people I can do that with.

1:53

You need a surname that rhymes.

1:57

If I ever get Michael Caine,

1:59

I'll say here we go.

1:59

go again, Michael Caine, but it wouldn't

2:02

make sense because I've never interviewed him before. Right,

2:04

right. Okay. And just before, while

2:06

we were getting ready to start, Alfie,

2:08

you just said to me, you're going to be

2:10

getting your own podcast together. What?

2:13

Yeah, I'm trying to get a little

2:15

podcast together, interviewing some opera

2:17

singers, how they got started, what training

2:20

they go through, what hobbies they have,

2:23

what would they rather be doing in their lives, you

2:25

know, that sort of thing, you know. Are there many

2:27

opera podcasts? I don't think

2:29

so.

2:30

So, well, and I tell you what, get in there

2:32

because when you said I

2:35

was going to say, yeah, because the world needs

2:37

another podcast, which is how

2:40

I felt, you know, about this. I mean,

2:42

it's interesting, isn't it? Because I was thinking, you know, when

2:45

I got approached through this, I was thinking, oh, everybody's

2:47

doing podcasts. But that must be how

2:49

people felt when television started. Yeah, I mean,

2:52

you know, the amount of chat shows that came out in

2:54

the day. So I don't

2:56

think it's anything to

2:58

be ashamed of or worried about, you know. I'm

3:01

trying not to be ashamed of it. Have you heard

3:03

it? Have you heard this podcast?

3:05

I haven't. I'm here to help you out a little

3:08

bit, Rob, you know. But,

3:10

you know, I think this is the way obviously the world is going.

3:13

You know, it's where interviews are going. To hell

3:15

in a hand cart, I believe, is the phrase

3:17

you're looking for. Okay, there

3:19

you go. You took the words out of my mouth. It's

3:22

great to see you. You look at you. Are

3:24

you working out? I do

3:26

work out. I've literally just started

3:29

CrossFit. Is that training angry? It's

3:32

really upset angry, yeah. But

3:36

it's like functional workouts. So

3:38

you're doing a lot of strength training mixed with cardio

3:40

as well. So you do like the ski yurg,

3:43

you do

3:43

the rowa mixed with like

3:45

Dumbo Press or whatever it is. And it's

3:48

a real heart. You know, it gets

3:50

the heart going. It's a real workout. So and

3:53

I'm loving it right now because

3:55

he's starting me off slow. But

3:57

I used to work out quite a lot. I used to go to the gym.

3:59

him

4:01

four or five times a week and I

4:03

know you did as well. What do you mean

4:05

did? Sorry and I know you

4:07

you you walk past it occasionally. Well

4:09

that's worse. Well I know you they

4:12

sell water. Wow unbelievable.

4:15

I'm being

4:17

roasted by Alfie Bow. Whoa whoa

4:19

whoa if there's any roasting I think it'll

4:21

be the other way around. Unbelievable.

4:25

Look I'm trying to sit, I'm trying to explain.

4:27

My chest actually can.

4:35

We always talk

4:37

about age on this podcast. How old are you? I'll

4:39

be 50 in about four weeks

4:42

time. Oh the beginning of the end. Exactly. Oh

4:45

I'm serious. Yeah yeah 50

4:47

man. 50 is the top of the roller

4:49

coaster. Is it? You can have fun going down the other

4:51

side but you're going down. All right okay

4:55

well I'm sure I'll catch up at some

4:57

point. I tell you what's going to happen you're going to really

4:59

get into training but your body

5:02

is going to fight against it because you're going to get

5:04

little aches, little, I mean this right shoulder

5:06

for me now. I'm getting it now. It's

5:09

happening already. Well is this true?

5:11

You've got to be so careful. You've got to change your

5:13

training. You've got to get more stretching in

5:16

more of a kind of Pilates yoga

5:18

thing because you've got to stay fit because

5:20

you're going on tour aren't you? I'm going

5:22

on tour. I'll be around the whole

5:24

of the UK and Ireland and

5:27

that takes me through until October

5:29

17th. I

5:31

think we end in Dublin. And

5:33

that'll be a good one. Dublin's

5:36

a good place for a last show. The audience

5:38

is in Dublin. They're wild. Yeah absolutely

5:41

wild. Belfast and Dublin. Yeah they

5:43

go crazy. Well Dan you just didn't let

5:45

the bell fire. I didn't like

5:47

that. What a smart guy. And I'm playing cardish

5:50

and clander now as well. Terrible audience. Oh

5:54

well shorting says go on then make me laugh.

5:57

There you go. Go on sing move me move me.

6:00

Or in North Wales, go on then, move me. Move

6:02

on. No, I don't think you're very good at all. I

6:05

did the Ice Steadford in Clangolan.

6:08

In where? Clang... Okay.

6:11

Where? In this place with a real weird name.

6:13

Try it again. Clang... Clangoklyn.

6:16

That's good. Is that right? Yeah.

6:19

Okay. You started off saying Clangagolan. Clangagolan.

6:22

Clangoklyn. And it was great. It

6:24

was wonderful. I stood there on stage, and it's a huge

6:26

stage, huge auditorium. Four and a half

6:28

thousand people. And

6:32

at the front row, there was this woman going

6:34

crazy. She was dancing away to all my music.

6:36

We were doing this big Queen medley, and

6:39

she was rocking out. She must have

6:41

been 88 and 89, 90s or something

6:43

like that. It was like,

6:46

that was so good to see people,

6:48

a woman like that, just really connecting with that rock

6:51

music. So you're going to be touring. Now, what's

6:53

the setup on your tour? I

6:56

know you tour with Michael Ball. We'll

6:59

come on to Michael, inevitably.

7:02

But let's delay this long as we can. When

7:05

you tour, how many

7:07

musicians, what's the size of the touring

7:10

party? How does it work? Well, you know,

7:12

these days it's nice to try and keep

7:14

it as small as possible. So you

7:16

can keep more of the money. You can go on holiday after

7:18

that. Yeah, exactly. And

7:20

I have an amazing

7:23

band, five musicians, five rock

7:25

players, that are so versatile

7:27

in their playing. They can

7:30

definitely rock out. They can connect

7:32

with the musical theatre, and they can even

7:35

cross to the classical repertoire

7:38

that I do. So you've got it down to five

7:40

people. Five people and two backing

7:42

singers. And they're

7:44

amazing. BVs. Wonderful. Yeah.

7:48

And they're great. They're going to be up front, and I should be behind,

7:50

to be honest. You see that documentary?

7:52

That wasn't me. And who was that? That

7:54

wasn't me. That was the playback. Yeah. All

7:58

right. We've done. We've done almost... hundred

8:00

podcasts right you wouldn't think

8:02

so. Have

8:06

a train going past that. Have you

8:09

seen the documentary 25 feet from

8:11

stardom? 20 feet from stardom. That

8:14

extra five feet they'd be out the door.

8:17

All about backing singers. Yeah and it's

8:19

awesome it really is cool I mean when

8:21

you look at some of the old interviews of

8:24

the lady that came in to the studio

8:26

in the middle of the night to record Give

8:29

Me Shelter from the Rolling Stones and choosing

8:31

like a night dress and oh

8:33

my goodness and yet when you listen to those vocals

8:35

you won't you'd never replace that you'd never get

8:37

anything. It's a fascinating thing because

8:40

you started this by saying I got these

8:42

backing vocalists and they should be up front

8:44

rather than me and I think the

8:47

documentary people should look it up 20 feet

8:49

from stardom all about these backing singers who

8:52

are incredible and some of them have

8:54

tried to be the front man

8:56

or front woman front person and

8:58

it hasn't worked out I think some of them have

9:01

always been happy in the background but it raises

9:03

that interesting question the

9:06

x-factor what is it

9:08

I do by which I don't mean that show I mean

9:10

the quality what is it that makes that person

9:13

sometimes not technically often

9:16

not technically as good a singer

9:18

as these people behind but they've got something. Do

9:20

you know what I think it is is

9:23

if I can try

9:25

and put it into a nutshell I think it's

9:27

about being able to accept

9:30

and make mistakes as

9:33

a lead as a front man as

9:35

a front singer and going with it and sometimes

9:40

making a mistake for the for the sheer hell of

9:42

it you know to sort of show

9:44

to shake things up a bit yeah to disconnect

9:46

from the audience to sort of drop that

9:48

barrier from the audience flight

9:51

the imperfection yeah you

9:53

know and it's about not being perfect

9:56

it's about taking that risk

9:58

to try something different. Whereas

10:01

all my musicians are so well rehearsed

10:04

and so in their lane that they know exactly

10:06

what they want to play, how they want to play it,

10:09

where they want to play it. Singers know the

10:11

harmonies inside out. Trying

10:14

to get them to shake themselves out of that

10:16

and give themselves confidence to take

10:19

a risk can be hard.

10:21

But when you are playing Jean

10:24

Valjean, which you have done, how

10:26

many times have you done that? In lane

10:28

Zaraab, how many times? Probably over 500

10:31

times at least, something like

10:33

that. On Broadway and in the

10:36

West End, probably even more than that when I think about

10:38

it. Yeah, I thought you were gonna say more than 500. Yeah,

10:41

I mean I've did two runs in the West End.

10:43

No, sorry, I did four runs in the

10:45

West End and then a run on Broadway. Yeah, so I've done

10:47

a fair few. I mean I've done

10:51

it twice. Oh no, I did 12 times. Have

10:54

you been experimenting with the dosage again

10:57

now? When you're in that

10:59

sort of a show, to what

11:02

degree have you got to keep it perfect

11:05

every night? Because that's different, isn't it? Yeah, it

11:07

is. You are playing

11:10

by the book. You are sort of directed

11:13

to move in a certain area. You

11:15

are told to sing the

11:18

score. We've heard this so many times

11:20

from people that have done musicals. We

11:23

had Rees-Sheer Smith on talking about being in the

11:25

producers and the

11:28

stage is divided into sections. Is

11:30

that the same for Les Mis? You should be in six,

11:32

you were in four or you turned your

11:35

head. I mean is it that particular? With

11:37

Les Mis it wasn't that particular, but

11:40

in the, I did a musical called Fine

11:42

in Neverland and that was, the stage

11:44

was mapped out like that and that for

11:46

me is a bit too controlling. I think you

11:48

have to have an element of freedom to

11:52

be able to play

11:54

with the boundaries and push it a little

11:56

bit. I suppose the challenge there is how can I, how can I, how can I, how can I, how

11:58

can I, how can I, how can I, can I put in a flourish

12:01

within these boundaries? How can I

12:04

respect what they want and

12:06

yet still not just be a robot?

12:08

I think as long as it doesn't affect your

12:11

colleagues performance, as long as it doesn't interfere

12:14

with what they're doing, then you

12:16

can push it a little bit. And I did. I used to,

12:18

we used to push

12:21

the confrontation with Shaver

12:24

further and further every single night,

12:26

it would get harder and harder. And then the director said,

12:28

guys, come back on stage a little bit, you know,

12:31

or even the singing, you know, you'd hold a note

12:33

for longer. You'd sing

12:36

it quieter, you'd sing it louder, you'd

12:38

do a different gesture on a certain phrase that

12:40

you didn't do the night before. And it's important

12:43

to play around like that and to take risks. And

12:45

so. But there's a balancing act,

12:47

isn't there? Because essentially what you're doing

12:50

there is you're changing it to keep it

12:52

interesting for you. Yeah.

12:55

And it's a bit like when you go to see your

12:57

favorite pop singer and they've

12:59

got some new arrangement of one of

13:01

their great songs. Yeah. And

13:03

I'm sure it's wonderful for them because it feels

13:06

for them now like it used to feel. But

13:08

so often the audience are going, this

13:10

isn't the rhythm. This isn't, you know, it's,

13:13

I think it's, it's an interesting balancing

13:16

act. It is, it is. And I know you have to

13:18

sort of, I mean, the, the

13:21

most important thing is to get the emotion

13:24

across that you're portraying, to tell

13:26

the story, to make sure that the audience

13:29

go away on a high, knowing

13:32

what that whole musical was about, you know,

13:34

and it's as long as you're doing that.

13:36

And as long as you're ticking that box, then keeping

13:39

it interesting for yourself is not such a

13:41

bad thing. It's as long as it doesn't

13:44

detract from the intention of

13:46

the show is. Now,

13:56

then I didn't know that

13:58

your full name. name is

14:01

Alfred Giovanni

14:04

Roncachelli or Cacelli?

14:07

Roncalli. Roncalli. Oh,

14:09

sorry, it's the Roncalli. I was

14:11

thinking of Carly Simon. It's the Roncalli. It's

14:14

somebody else. Alfred Giovanni

14:17

Roncalli Bowe. Oh, that's

14:19

right. An opera singer,

14:21

you're many things, but one of the things you are is

14:23

an opera singer. Don't you have been

14:26

better off going with my Giovanni

14:29

Roncalli? It's so funny. Rather

14:31

than Alfie Bowe. It's funny as shit. What

14:34

the hell is going on? Right,

14:36

I'm turning that off. I don't care. Let

14:42

me, let's hope it's not the carbon monoxide

14:44

alarm. Did

14:48

you ever think if I'm

14:50

going to go into the world of opera,

14:52

Giovanni Roncalli might be better? I

14:55

did at one point, but

14:58

then I felt like I might

15:00

obviously be portraying myself to be Italian,

15:02

but Paolo Nittini doesn't mind.

15:04

I mean, he's... Paolo Nittini. Hey,

15:07

I do an impression of Paolo Nittini.

15:10

I rarely do it. Would you like to hear it? Go on

15:12

then. Paolo Nittini, the famous,

15:14

wonderful Scottish singer-songwriter. Ready?

15:18

Here it is. Whoa.

15:18

What do you

15:21

think?

15:23

What do you think? Well, that's what he does.

15:26

Yeah. Yeah? Yeah,

15:29

that was great. Yeah, that was a good one. I feel you don't

15:31

really like it. I think you're disappointed. I was right. No,

15:33

the third time it's getting better. Because

15:37

that's what he does. Almost

15:39

every song. Take these

15:42

fight-head arms and let me hold you. He

15:44

does. Thank you. He just

15:46

hit me now. Yes, he does. Are you a hard audience,

15:49

are you? You

15:52

come in and you start roasting me, then you do one-liners,

15:54

and I do this great impression of Paolo

15:56

Nittini, and you hit the blank. Oh,

16:00

there we go. It's coming back again. And

16:02

what else would you like to ask me, Rob? Tell

16:07

me about your beginnings, because I always remember

16:10

hearing you on something

16:12

like Desert Island Discs. You've done

16:15

that. The story

16:17

of how you got into singing

16:20

for people that haven't heard it is a remarkable

16:23

one. Well, that Desert Island Discs was quite

16:27

an interview in itself. My

16:29

story is basically that I used to work

16:31

in a car factory in Blackpool and I

16:34

was singing in amateur shows, singing

16:37

around the factory to entertain myself and my colleagues

16:39

and a guy overheard me in the factory who

16:42

recommended that I come down to London to

16:44

audition for an opera company

16:46

called the Doily Car. Have you heard it? Yes,

16:49

I have. Gilbert and Sullivan. Have you heard

16:51

of them? I didn't know. Do you think I am

16:53

some Philistine? Well, yeah, I do,

16:55

Rob. OK, thank you. Well,

16:59

Doily Car came down, sang for them,

17:01

got taken on. And for a full

17:03

year, I went on tour with them before I went to. That's

17:05

before you went to because then you went to study,

17:08

didn't you? Yeah, I had I auditioned

17:10

for two things. One was Phantom

17:12

to do the cover role of Raoul in

17:14

Phantom. And the

17:17

other thing was the Royal College of Music. And

17:19

I thought, you know, I'm going to go to college and

17:22

learn how it works, you know, learn how how

17:24

I'm creating this sound. And

17:26

I'm glad I did because

17:28

it was the longevity it took me into opera

17:31

and then got me, you know,

17:34

I'm able to sort of work use my technique

17:36

to sing lots of different things. But

17:39

that that Desert

17:41

Island Discs interview

17:44

was was very interesting. I said,

17:46

Kirstie asked me, she said, so

17:49

do you ever go to the opera? Do

17:51

you ever go to watch an opera or to the theatre?

17:54

And I said, do you know what? To

17:57

be honest, I don't because.

18:00

I find it boring and I

18:02

literally said that, you know, I said I find it,

18:05

and it was the truth, I do find it boring to go

18:07

to the opera to watch a show, I'd rather

18:09

be on stage doing

18:11

it than sat there because

18:14

I can't relax. I'm like looking at the guy

18:16

who's playing the role I'd play and I've been thinking,

18:19

oh I want to do that, oh that sounds good, I'd

18:21

sing that a little bit different, I want to be up there and

18:24

it's hard, you know, even when I've been

18:26

invited to go and watch the new cast of Les

18:28

Mis and watching the guy that's playing

18:30

Jean Vargent, it's like, okay, oh

18:32

no, he's doing that alright, that's good, but I'd do

18:34

it like this and I'd do it like that, and we're all individuals

18:37

so we're all gonna do it differently, but

18:40

I got roasted the following

18:42

day in the press, Alfie Beaux

18:44

finds opera, says opera is boring and

18:46

blah blah blah and all that, and

18:49

you know, so it was, but it was fine, it was

18:51

alright. See if you'd gone with the other name, Giovanni

18:53

Roncacalli expresses disappointment

18:56

in modern opera, and we

18:58

all agree, Roncacalli has hit the nail on the head

19:00

again, classic Giovanni. You

19:08

don't know this guy that heard you singing,

19:10

I read that you tried to figure

19:12

out who that guy was, but you don't know. No,

19:14

well I knew he hasn't come forward

19:16

and made himself known. He was probably

19:20

in his,

19:21

I don't know, 60s,

19:22

70s. So he's dead now. Okay,

19:25

that's what you're saying, isn't it? Thoughts with the

19:27

family. It wasn't where I was gonna go, but yeah.

19:29

I was clear what you were saying, you know, I know you were saying that

19:31

he was dead, with that classic Roncacalli

19:34

abruptness. And I wasn't even singing any

19:36

Queen either, it was just... What were you singing? What

19:38

year you sing? I was singing the Rolling Stones song

19:41

actually, I was singing Honky Tonk

19:43

Woman. And he

19:45

was like, and he thought, that sounds

19:47

good, you got some good notes in there mate, I think

19:49

you could do something. But were you going... No,

19:53

I wasn't doing that.

20:01

I was just singing it in the pop

20:03

style that I had been doing. If you were singing that

20:06

sort of thing, how come you then went down and

20:08

auditioned for Doyly Carves? Well, I

20:11

was taking part in lots

20:14

of amateur operatics. So

20:17

I was taking part in operatic

20:20

productions like Carmen

20:23

and Il Trovatore, and then I did a production

20:25

of West Side Story. Who were you playing that?

20:28

I played Tony. Of course you did. I did

20:30

the role of Tony, but I wasn't initially cast

20:32

as Tony. I was in the chorus. But

20:35

the company, the guys

20:37

in the company, had

20:40

complained the fact that they hadn't been given the chance

20:42

to audition for the main roles. So

20:45

the head piano player,

20:47

the head musician, MD said, everybody

20:51

come in the room. All the guys come in the room. I'm just going to

20:53

listen to you all at once, sing

20:55

this song, Maria, from West

20:57

Side Story. Just all sing it in unison,

20:59

and then I'll decide who's going to play the role.

21:02

So we all had to stand there. So there

21:04

wasn't a Tony already cast? Yeah, there was.

21:07

And who was the guy that was already cast? He was just the one... It

21:09

was a local singer, a

21:11

local amateur star. So he's going, hang on a minute. Whoa,

21:14

whoa, whoa. He hadn't turned up for that rehearsal,

21:16

and he was also about 55 years

21:18

old. You can't

21:21

be Tony if you're 55. This

21:24

is an amateur production. But

21:26

I don't care if it's amateur. You can't Tony

21:29

if you're 55. I mean, it's supposed to be 19.

21:32

You could imagine that. I think I could

21:34

still get away with it. Don't you? So

21:38

that was the thing. It was like they

21:41

were all annoyed that they hadn't had the chance

21:43

to audition. So we stood in this. So how many of

21:45

you then stood there? Probably about 12 of us. 12 of

21:47

you. Singing Maria together. Singing Maria

21:50

all in one. And there's two... In

21:53

the middle of the song, there's two

21:56

ways of singing the sort

21:58

of bridge section. You

22:00

can either keep repeating

22:02

the name Maria Maria

22:05

Maria Maria Maria

22:08

Maria Maria Maria

22:12

or you can do what I was about to do

22:14

there or hit this top note

22:16

Maria

22:19

Maria and I hit it because that was the only

22:21

version that I knew so

22:24

it was like Was that the Jose Carreras version

22:26

from the Bernstein recording? Exactly, so

22:29

that's what I'd learnt the piece from And

22:31

you did that? And I did that Oh well goodbye

22:34

the other 11 losers So by the time

22:36

I'd finished singing that note everyone else

22:38

had stopped singing and I'd carried on singing,

22:40

I was in a world of my own and

22:42

the MD said

22:44

can I have a little word with you? And

22:47

that was it and I got the role of Tony And at that point the

22:50

original Tony comes in late with his coffee and goes Maria

22:52

how's going on? No, no, no, no, let me

22:54

have a go Maria,

22:59

Maria Oh

23:01

my word So

23:05

from that I got a lot of advice to

23:08

avoid the original Tony To

23:13

take it professionally Don't walk home

23:15

alone, look over your shoulder, check

23:17

your back Exactly So

23:20

then you play Tony I play Tony

23:23

When you're doing it then and you're

23:25

hitting that note every night the

23:28

audiences must have gone Wow

23:30

It was a good moment, it was a real

23:35

light turning on moment for me every single

23:37

time I performed that Because it just gave

23:39

me the energy

23:42

to

23:43

pursue this goal of getting

23:45

into the business So I would do

23:47

something every single day, I would write a

23:49

letter and put it in the post box to

23:52

an agent Or go and ask

23:55

if I could sing at a working men's

23:57

club in Blackpool or something like that

24:00

in a singing competition. There

24:03

was a big singing competition in the

24:06

talk of the coast in Blackpool at the Viking

24:08

Hotel and I

24:10

took part in that every single week, went down

24:13

there and performed West Side Story,

24:15

all these musical theatre songs and some

24:17

pop songs and it was a real

24:19

good training. Presumably

24:21

you won every week, did you? No, I

24:23

actually came second. Who was beating

24:25

you then? There was this young pop singer, this

24:28

girl, I can't

24:30

remember her name. Did she go

24:32

on to success? She was

24:34

called Celine Dion, I think. Who

24:41

was beating you? I don't know actually, I can't remember

24:43

her name, but she did very well. She was a pop

24:46

singer but she was on that sort of

24:48

classic, that working

24:50

men's circuit, the cabaret circuit already

24:52

in Blackpool. I see, okay. And

24:56

that wasn't my world but I tried to get

24:58

into it and try to do

25:01

a little bit of that. Gary Barlow was on that circuit, wasn't

25:03

he? He

25:06

played, he used to perform

25:09

at the talk of the coast as well.

25:11

He did a one man show in the West Side Story.

25:13

I saw it, it was excellent. And he talked

25:15

about that, where he was used to going

25:17

to sing Phantom. Well I was singing West

25:20

Side Story, you know. Were

25:22

you ever on the same bill? No, I remember

25:24

seeing his name up there though, yeah, I remember seeing

25:26

him on there. But it's

25:29

cool to know that we had that sort of

25:33

start, you know, and he obviously

25:35

did better than me.

25:37

Well, I mean, you know,

25:40

doing pretty well. I'm all right, I'm not too bad.

25:43

It's going quite well, it's going very well

25:45

from where I'm standing. It's going

25:47

very well, thank you. So you go, you

25:50

join Doylicart, I don't know if you've ever

25:52

heard of them, but Gilbert and Sullivan, yeah,

25:54

like Claire and Ella again, naturally. That's

25:58

one for the over. over 95. We

26:01

had his album. You

26:04

do that and then after a year

26:06

with that and then you go and

26:08

study Royal College of Music. Give

26:10

me encapsulate what

26:13

you learned about the voice there.

26:17

Yeah man it was four

26:19

years intense singing.

26:23

I learned how to,

26:25

you know,

26:27

the biggest lesson I had to learn was

26:30

how to sing quietly and

26:33

to control my voice on certain

26:35

volumes and dynamics. I

26:38

learned languages. I learned

26:41

styles of classical music. Made

26:46

big operas. Started to perform

26:48

operas in the theatre

26:51

in the school. Got

26:55

jobs as well on the outside of college

26:57

doing work. So it was a real

27:00

acting lessons. It was a real

27:04

influx of information I was getting.

27:06

What about the technicalities of where

27:08

in the mouth you place the sound for

27:10

different, whether it's an E, an R and all

27:13

those different things. Talk us

27:15

through the geography of the mouth for different notes.

27:17

Well I mean I'm a natural

27:19

singer so singing sort of it comes

27:22

naturally to me anyway in a way but

27:24

you can modify vowels to

27:27

make a note sound

27:29

clearer and brighter. So if you have to

27:33

sing like for

27:35

example an E vowel, you

27:37

know, which is very bright,

27:41

you know. I always

27:43

put like, I try

27:46

and add an element of E to it. So it's,

27:51

I mean I could give you an example. Please do. I

27:53

was hoping you would. Let

27:56

me see, so if I have to sing

27:59

um let's see

28:02

well

28:02

it may be an f vowel

28:05

so i'm singing an f f is not a vowel

28:07

no f oh sorry and it goes

28:17

that's very wide

28:20

but if i wanted to make it a

28:22

bit more round i'd

28:24

put a bit more um f in

28:26

it or r in it so it's a

28:30

bit

28:35

and it's

28:37

a bit of a bigger and rounder and

28:39

warmer sound than just having the air in that's

28:44

very that's very impressive Alfie i want

28:46

to shake your hand oh cheers thank you that's

28:49

lovely thank you thank you you've

28:51

not warmed up today no i haven't i've just

28:53

literally rolled out of bed when did you last perform

28:56

singing publicly uh i would

28:58

that would have been hang on let me get this right

29:01

clang gothlin but how long how long

29:03

about a week ago right so since then

29:06

what have you done with your voice have you done

29:08

have you been doing exercises um

29:10

not really no that's your voice

29:14

without it is it is 10 to midday

29:16

yeah right and the

29:18

last time you performed wow so are

29:20

you in are you in a place now because

29:23

you perform so much that your voice is

29:26

just it's there pretty much yeah

29:28

my my voice i think the age that i am

29:30

right now my voice is slotted

29:33

into a nice little pocket

29:35

where i can rely on it but

29:38

i can't take it for granted no i still

29:41

have to maintain that's better than being able

29:43

to take it for granted i can take it for granted

29:46

but i can't rely on it please

29:59

that is that sort of thing Obviously

30:01

I want to be singing until I'm 52,

30:05

at least for another couple of years. But

30:08

look at Tom Jones. Where is he?

30:10

No, he's not. Is he coming? Sorry,

30:12

I'm in the wrong room. He's delivered my avocado. Avocado?

30:15

Avocado. Waitrose. Waitrose,

30:18

that's the one. Yeah, thank you. There

30:20

in the end. I remember years ago saying to

30:22

Bryn Tervell, how often do you do your voice

30:24

exercises? Well,

30:33

never. Exactly. Why? He

30:35

goes, well, I'm always singing. Yeah. So he's

30:37

always there. You're always singing around the house. You're

30:41

singing along to the song. I play guitar,

30:43

so I'll get the guitar out and sing

30:46

along to that or whatever. You do bar chords. I

30:48

can do a few bar chords. Do

30:51

you annoy me? No, I can't. I can just open

30:53

chords. Do you play guitar? Then what

30:55

guitar have you got? A musical guitar. A musical

30:58

one, right. No, I've got a few, actually. I don't want to come

31:00

over and layer it clapped. Well,

31:03

isn't it Martin O'Farrell? I

31:09

think it's a Yamaha, but I've

31:11

got a nice one that's, I

31:13

can never remember the damn names. I've

31:16

got an electric one that I never... Yeah. I've got

31:18

a bar chords that are hard to

31:20

do. I know I used

31:22

to struggle with that. But once you can do them,

31:24

it opens up a whole world of sound,

31:27

isn't it? So basically what I do

31:29

if I'm learning a song, I'll just play

31:31

that song up and down the neck. I'm

31:34

just doing bar chords. But

31:36

it's interesting. But I mean, yeah, I sing around the house.

31:39

I play along with myself and that

31:41

sounded awful, didn't it? I played

31:43

guitar. Alfie, I was going to let it slide

31:46

if you want to take us to the gutter. Sorry.

31:48

By pointing it out, then so be it. It's

31:53

more disappointing. On the one hand, he's got this

31:55

incredible voice and then...

31:58

Such a knob. Oh, I didn't hear that. The

32:04

singer Alfie Bowes, speaking earlier

32:06

today in London. Nicholas Wichel

32:08

is at the Palace Nick. Can

32:11

Michael Ball play the guitar? Not

32:14

as I know of. You have been propping him

32:20

up for so long. How did

32:22

that begin, that association with Michael? Well

32:24

you just lean against him.

32:28

It started when

32:31

we were in a production of Kismet

32:34

at the Colosseum in

32:36

town. When was that? Probably 11

32:40

years ago now, 11, 12 years ago. And it was

32:45

awful. It was

32:47

the worst production that had ever

32:50

graced a theatrical

32:52

stage in London in the world probably.

32:56

The director fell out

32:58

with a choreographer and so

33:01

the choreographer plotted these dances

33:03

and to get back at him, the

33:05

director basically got the male chorus

33:08

of English national opera to stand

33:10

in the straight line across

33:12

the front of the stage blocking what

33:15

was going on in the dancing. That

33:17

was a lovely working environment. It was

33:19

awful, it was terrible. And the director

33:22

left a

33:24

week before the show had finished being

33:26

plotted and directed. So me

33:29

and Michael teamed up and

33:32

finished off the show. We did the

33:36

run. It sold out because

33:39

people knew it was so bad. It

33:41

was like a producer. He then went

33:48

on after that to do a prom

33:51

at the Royal Albert Hall and asked me

33:53

if I would join him as his guest. And

33:57

I came on his show on the show. his

34:00

concert and we did our first duet

34:03

and it was the Pearl Fishers duet from

34:06

the opera Baibizet, Pearl Fishers. Remind

34:08

us of the melody. O fon

34:10

du t'omblous a paré

34:13

de fleux et oine fame

34:16

paré I can't remember the rest of the words but it's

34:19

a beautiful... O fon

34:21

du t'omblous

34:23

a paré de fleux et oine fame

34:26

paré So there you go, that's

34:28

a bit of it for you. Thank

34:34

you. We were singing that together and

34:36

Michael in the rehearsal sort

34:40

of like put on this mock operatic

34:43

voice thinking that that's what he had

34:45

to do because he was singing an opera operatic

34:47

song and it sounded

34:49

awful and I said to him I said what are

34:52

you doing and he said

34:53

so I'm singing operatically and I said well

34:56

you're not an opera singer and

34:58

he said no but I can do it and I went you

35:00

can't really. How did that go down? It

35:03

went all right because we're still working together

35:07

and I said just sing it as Michael Ball. Oh

35:09

cross the ball at your own risk. And

35:12

he did and it sounded great.

35:15

I forgot I was on his radio show once I could

35:17

go down well. Really? I was

35:19

meant to be on his show. Hi Michael we get on great

35:21

but I was meant to be interviewed on his radio

35:24

show. It was a Sunday morning and you're not in work

35:26

mode on a Sunday. No no no. I forgot all about

35:28

it my mobile was switched off. Yeah. I

35:32

ended up doing something I rushed into the car heading

35:34

to the studio we're doing some of it all the phone I got in

35:36

and I don't listen I wouldn't I wouldn't

35:38

have I mean you were 20 minutes late today but I was

35:41

I'm sorry I know. I'm

35:43

sorry Rob. So you're telling so you're telling Michael.

35:46

Yeah yeah and he's he's taking

35:48

it and and he's and because when he started

35:50

singing in that big grand

35:53

musical theater voice that he's

35:55

got it sounded

35:57

fabulous and it worked and so that was

35:59

really the. first time that we discovered

36:02

that

36:04

our voices worked well together.

36:07

But it can't just be the voices, it's got to be

36:09

the personalities because you toured together

36:12

now, you've had big hit albums, you've

36:14

got this Vegas album.

36:16

Yeah, yeah, we've got a Vegas

36:19

album, that was our last album. You

36:22

went over to Vegas. Yeah, we did. And

36:24

you put how many shows did you do there? Well I have a residency

36:27

there. So I was performing, but

36:29

me and Michael were... I didn't know you were at a Vegas residency.

36:31

These research notes, I really should read them. Alright.

36:35

A Vegas residency? I

36:37

have a Vegas residency, but not

36:40

only a Vegas residency, I have

36:42

it at the Westgate Casino, which

36:44

used to be the Hilton International, where

36:47

Elvis Presley used to perform. So

36:49

I get to use Elvis's dressing

36:51

room. You do not. Yeah, and I get...

36:54

What does that feel like? It's pretty

36:56

special, man. It really is, because you can

36:58

really sense the

37:00

environment and the feelings that he

37:03

was there and you

37:05

see all the old footage backstage, it

37:07

hasn't changed much. The dressing room's still the

37:09

same. And you can look at

37:12

that backstage footage of Elvis making his way

37:14

from his penthouse down. Yes, yes,

37:16

that's the way it is. That's

37:18

all in that, isn't it? Yeah, that's right. And

37:22

getting onto the stage. And

37:25

there's a backstage

37:28

in the wings. There's this

37:30

meter square

37:32

piece of flooring,

37:34

wooden floor from the original stage

37:36

that he performed on. And they

37:38

haven't touched it because that's where he used to stand

37:42

every single night before he went on stage

37:45

with his hand on a pillow, on a pillow.

37:49

And he used to say a little prayer, turn

37:52

around, and then was led to

37:54

the other side of the stage to come and make his entrance

37:56

on stage. And that was where he stood every

37:58

single night.

37:59

when

38:00

the performer goes to that little spot

38:03

and stands there and then goes under the hill.

38:05

Elvis, give me strength. Exactly,

38:07

but it's so cool to stand on that stage

38:10

and do a tribute to Elvis. Which

38:13

songs do you do by Elvis? I do That's Alright

38:15

Mama, I do Cece Rider, Burning

38:17

Love, Suspicious

38:20

Minds, Viva Las Vegas, and

38:23

it's great. It's awesome. But what

38:25

about some of his bigger songs for your

38:27

voice? Why are you not doing If I Can Dream? I've

38:30

recorded that, that's on one of my albums, If

38:32

I Can Dream. But with this show, what

38:34

I wanted to do is I wanted to make

38:38

it more of a party vibe, more

38:40

of a vibrant party environment. And because

38:42

it's towards the end of the show as well. It's

38:46

actually the encore. So

38:49

I come back out and do this big medley, but just

38:51

leave everybody dancing down the aisles. But

38:54

playing a residency as opposed

38:56

to touring, I

38:58

can equate it with playing at the Edinburgh

39:00

Festival, which was a long time ago, but you're in the

39:02

same room every night. Every night. Everyone's

39:05

being in a theatre as well for a musical. You get

39:07

to know the sight lines, you get

39:09

to know the acoustics. And I'm guessing

39:12

that the sound system

39:14

is

39:15

state of the art. It's phenomenal.

39:18

It really is. I mean, it's definitely come

39:20

a long way since Elvis. But

39:24

the other sound is just outrageous. It's

39:26

huge. What do you use? Do

39:29

you have in-ears or wedges? I

39:32

have in-ears now because... Explain

39:34

what this is to people who've been too lazy

39:36

to find out. Well, in-ears,

39:39

back in the old days, you used to have these things called

39:42

wedges or monitors, which are

39:44

speakers at the front of the stage. Pointing

39:47

at the performer. So

39:50

the guitarist, the drummer would have one at his

39:52

side or the keyboard player would have

39:54

one at his side as well. And why would they have them? Because

39:57

they'd want to be able to listen to hear. what

40:00

everyone else in the band is playing because the

40:02

speakers you know when you go to a concert everything

40:04

is being thrown out front yeah yeah

40:08

but what happens with that

40:10

is that it starts to damage

40:12

your hearing you know pardon sorry

40:15

who yeah and

40:17

it starts see how it went with you thank you strangely

40:21

compliant damn you that did so

40:27

it starts to beat up your

40:29

ears really badly so what they invented was

40:32

what's known as in-ear monitors and

40:35

they're basically headphones you know that's about

40:38

it you have a little power pack at the back with

40:40

a volume button you plug yourself

40:42

in and then you add you have a monitor

40:44

engineer who would have done the

40:47

speakers at the front who

40:50

mixes everyone's sound so

40:53

everybody can actually have an individual

40:56

sound rather than just an overall sound

40:58

what they need to hear yeah and how much

41:00

of the room do they give you by

41:02

which i mean the audience yeah the room i i

41:05

actually ask for quite a lot of room you

41:07

know i like that ambient sound

41:09

you know i like to be able to hear the audience clap

41:11

i like to be able to or boo um and

41:13

like you know i like to hear them laugh

41:16

and and respond and all that sort of stuff and also

41:18

i like to hear the what the

41:21

voice is sounding like in the audience as well

41:24

um so sometimes i have like

41:26

my ears in and i'll just lift

41:29

up this left one because this ear is is is

41:31

better than that one you know um because

41:33

i am losing my hearing a little bit but

41:35

right and pardon sorry too yeah

41:38

thank you thank you you

41:41

shouldn't make fun of hearing loss no i know

41:44

i know well you know

41:46

if anybody watching or listening

41:48

to this is suffering from hearing loss

41:50

would they be listening would

41:52

they be listening so be trying

41:54

to be trying okay spec

41:57

savers do a very wide range

41:59

of hearing aids by the way I should just say that.

42:02

How do they help you see? We're

42:04

branching out at Specsavers. I'm

42:07

the voice selfie that's what I'm saying. Oh is that right? I

42:09

see okay. I've got to look after them. Got

42:11

you.

42:14

Where were we? I don't know. I have no idea. Yeah,

42:16

Indian monitors. I

42:19

sort of crack one out of my ear and

42:21

then I can hear the audience a bit better.

42:24

Couldn't they just give you that in the mix? They could

42:26

but even there's something different

42:29

about the monitor mix and the

42:31

live mix so I like to hear

42:33

both. Okay that's your solo show over

42:36

there but the album with

42:38

Michael, have you done

42:40

a run of those with Michael

42:43

or did you just do it for the album? Ball

42:45

and Bow Together in Vegas. That

42:48

would suggest you perform Together in Vegas

42:50

with him. It would, wouldn't it? Yeah,

42:52

did you? No. We did a live

42:55

from the trades descriptions agency

42:59

and I need to talk to you. That's terrible. What you did

43:01

a TV show out there. We did a TV show out there.

43:03

Right. We did in all

43:05

honesty, we did perform a couple of songs from

43:07

the album in certain locations but we

43:09

didn't do an actual show. But you

43:13

tour Britain with Michael.

43:15

You've done that several times. Who

43:18

has the upper hand in

43:20

deciding the set list?

43:23

The set list. We both... Oh

43:25

don't give me that. I know, I know, I know. Michael

43:27

does pressure me with certain

43:30

songs but I do. He wants

43:34

love changes everything in and he wants

43:36

one moment in time or step out of time. Every

43:39

single time love

43:41

changes everything. He says to me, will you sing?

43:43

This is one song, he says it to the audience,

43:45

one song that I've sung in every

43:48

concert ever that I've ever

43:50

performed. I have to do it in every concert

43:52

and I said well you must be sick of it by now. Can't

43:54

we change it up? And

43:56

he gets me to do it and you know he has

43:59

the big... big note. Yeah. Yeah.

44:01

I thought you're gonna ask me to do this. I'm gonna blow you

44:03

out of the water and I did the higher note

44:06

above it. So do you

44:08

do that every time now? Every time. And that's

44:10

become a bit and he doesn't mind. He's happy

44:13

to go along with that. He loves it. He loves it. And it

44:15

is, you know, he just likes the attention.

44:18

Yes. I haven't had

44:21

Michael on this. I don't know why. He'd love it.

44:24

He would love it. Michael, it's an invitation.

44:27

Come and get your own back whenever you want.

44:30

He's a great guy. And we

44:32

do discuss the set. Actually,

44:36

sorry, he meant he throws out

44:38

songs there. We don't discuss

44:40

it. I just say yes or no. Simple

44:43

as that. Just like, no, I can't do that. Yeah, Michael

44:46

is. Michael's a very nice guy

44:48

and very talented. I've seen him

44:51

in many, many shows and great company.

44:54

Is it fun touring?

44:56

Or you know, one of those double

44:59

items that just turns up at the venue because you because

45:01

you're busy and you've got your own things. Yeah. No,

45:03

you know what we I've

45:06

got to say, we have such

45:08

a wonderful rapport with each other. We

45:11

really do. We work well together. We're old

45:13

enough and ugly enough to

45:15

know what this business is like and how

45:18

we need to do a show and get

45:20

on with it and pull it together. And

45:22

you know, if one of us is feeling a bit low, we'll

45:25

boost each other up and that sort of thing. It's

45:27

great. It's a really cool double act. You know,

45:30

inevitably, there's moments where you when you

45:32

get tired and frustrated with each other a little

45:34

bit. But that's no, you would want

45:38

me to ask. When was the last time that happened?

45:41

When he wouldn't? Because I don't think he appreciates

45:43

you. It doesn't. No, he doesn't. I've heard him

45:45

saying, I mean, look,

45:48

I want to gossip. No,

45:50

I know the things he says about you.

45:52

Oh, my goodness me. A little

45:54

bit about.

45:57

No, no, it's little

45:59

things. Do you like it too? It's

46:02

alright. I've got to get people crying

46:04

on these podcasts. I'm getting over it now, it's fine.

46:07

So would you call it bullying? Because

46:11

bullying balls sounds good. We can go with

46:13

that in our... Oh my goodness.

46:16

Bullying bull. How I

46:18

ball, B-A-W-L, at

46:21

bullying balls says bow. Bow

46:23

balls at bullying balls. That'd

46:27

be great for our socials. If you couldn't say he bullies

46:29

you, it'd be a great help to us. Really? Okay. Michael

46:32

Bullies me all the time. He does. 100%. He

46:36

steals my punchlines. If I come up with a really

46:39

good joke, right? Does that happen?

46:42

Well, I mean, today's evidence

46:44

of that, isn't it? Really. I mean, to an extent.

46:47

To an extent. To an extent. Yeah.

46:49

Extents are interesting, aren't they? Yeah,

46:52

they are. But anyway, he

46:54

does. If I come up with a really good joke, this is the only

46:57

thing that does annoy me about him, is that he steals

46:59

my jokes. He steals my punchlines because

47:01

he can't create them himself. So

47:04

if you come up with a good line, he'll stick it in a bit earlier

47:06

in the show. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And then I'm like stood

47:09

there like a melon later on thinking he heard

47:11

this. Michael

47:13

is Welsh, so I heartily

47:15

approve. Is he though? Is he? Well,

47:17

I know he doesn't sound Welsh, does he? Well, the thing is,

47:19

is whenever we're traveling around the country,

47:22

he sort of has like a connection

47:24

with everywhere he goes. Like Birmingham

47:27

or down south or Cornwall or wherever

47:29

in Wales. He's constantly

47:31

got this connection and then he tries to put

47:33

the accent on wherever he is. Oh

47:36

dear. And it's really not the house. The only

47:38

place he can't do it, he can't do a northern accent. Really?

47:42

Yeah, he can't fluff being in there in

47:45

Manchester. He can't get away with it. He's

47:47

in this revival of aspects of love at

47:50

the time of recording, playing the different, the

47:52

older old. Have you been to see it? I haven't yet. No,

47:54

no, no, I know. I know. I know. Wait

47:57

a minute. Michael Ball is back

47:59

in one of the shows. that launched him.

48:01

Did it launch him? That was the one. And

48:04

you've not been to see it? Well it's got Love

48:06

Changes Everything in it. Not by him?

48:10

Oh he does it on this. I think he does.

48:12

But he's a different character. Oh he's

48:14

bullied them. He's bullied

48:16

them into doing it. I

48:19

think so. I might be wrong. Aspects cast

48:22

in tears as bullying Gull

48:24

grabs his song. I

48:27

could see this coming says Beau. 50. I

48:32

don't know actually. I can't clarify

48:35

if that is true. But somebody did tell me that he sings

48:38

Love Changes Everything in the show. I haven't

48:40

been to see it. I was supposed to go to the opening

48:42

night but I was away in America. In Vegas.

48:46

How very convenient. I couldn't make

48:48

it. And since I got back I've

48:50

been working on my own album. And you've

48:52

been busy every single night

48:55

and matinee. I've heard

48:57

that Michael from I Know People Have Seen It.

48:59

They've told me Michael has seemed a bit subdued.

49:02

Subdued. A little bit hurt. That's

49:04

the word. Really? I've heard hurt. And people say well

49:07

why it's almost as if a close friend and

49:09

colleague has, not my words, stabbed

49:11

him in the back. She's like bullying

49:13

Brydon right now.

49:16

Clickbait. I

49:18

started out with this podcast with lofty ideals

49:21

of not going there but this is the way forward.

49:23

I slightly

49:25

thought to Alfie. Thanks for coming in. We haven't

49:27

even touched on Pete Townsend's

49:30

flat. Oh my goodness. We'll save

49:32

that for the next time. Another time man. Thank

49:34

you. Curious now, aren't you? Alfie

49:38

Beau has got to go. I have.

49:41

To do a show. Oh, oh, oh. There you

49:44

go. Cheers mate. Have a good

49:46

day. Thank you. Prime

49:55

members, yes you. You

49:57

can listen to Brydon and Early and free

50:00

on Amazon Music. Download the app

50:02

today. Bridenand

50:04

is produced by Talent Bank and

50:06

executive produced by Rob Briden. He

50:09

does such a vital job in collaboration

50:11

with Wundery. Don't forget to check

50:14

out our bite-size videocast

50:16

on YouTube.