Signed to Take That singer Gary Barlow's record label, 21-year-old English coloratura soprano Camilla Kerslake has just released her debut album, an excellent mix of classical and contemporary music, recorded with the Irish Film Orchestra. Her cover of Take That's 'Rule the World' is already a youtube hit, and you'll be hearing a lot more of the other tracks on the record. The story of how she got to make it is a heartwarming one, as Harry Guerin found out.

Watch Camilla Kerslake's performance on 'The Late Late Show'.

Harry Guerin: How you got signed to Gary Barlow's label Future Records is one of those real old-fashioned stories.
Camilla Kerslake: It's like a fairytale. I had been doing pop for a long time and classical is incredibly expensive - if you're not wealthy it's just not open to you at all. So I wasn't so it wasn't. I went for an audition and I got this amazing part in this girl band. I thought, 'Oh fantastic, I've finally made it'. About a week later we were sort of filling in application forms and I wrote my date of birth and they read it. This is when I was 20. They said, 'You're 20-years-old?' I said, 'Yep'. And they replied, 'By the time we develop you and release you you'll be 22 - that's far too old'. I was so shocked. Every other industry in the world... 22, how young is that? I couldn't believe it.
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HG: That's crazy.
CK: I thought, 'This is not a world I can work in. I need to go back to classical. I need to get back to my roots. I know I haven't got any training, but if someone could just listen to me and maybe help me out or maybe if I work so hard that I could get a scholarship - just anything'.

And then I heard that Gary was recording at Sarm [studios] in London and I thought, 'I bet he can give me some advice'. So I called in a few favours from the production students at university. I was like, 'Please, please, please record me!' I borrowed £20 off my parents, bought a £2.99 backing track off the Internet, a stack of CDs from PC World and made them all up - didn't have a picture or anything - and took them down [to where Gary was recording].

HG: And then...
CK: I took one down every day for about six weeks. The thing was I was at university at the time as well so I couldn't hang around and give it to him. I just had to knock at the door and really hope that the people on reception were passing it along. They were really kind, so sweet.

After about five weeks I got a phone call from this woman and I thought, 'I haven't given a CD to anyone but Gary'. So I thought, 'Who is this woman? Have I left something on a Tube?' And she was very vague. I just answered as honestly as I could, like I normally do. And I got a phone call back an hour later from her explaining the situation, explaining the label, explaining Gary. I was absolutely over the moon. That was the Friday. She arranged for us to meet on the Monday and Gary offered me a deal there and then.

HG: Your cover of Take That's 'Rule the World' in Italian will give you a real crossover audience. There will be people who wouldn't be familiar with Take That's music and Take That fans who haven't listened to classical.
CK: Well, that's what I thought. I really hoped that people who listened to Take That and loved pop would listen to this and maybe think, 'Maybe I do like classical music'. So that was the point of the contemporary songs [on the album]. I've done them all in a classical style, just so the people who listen to contemporary think, 'Hey, maybe I do like this stuff'. And hopefully it will work both ways. That would be amazing.

HG: So what else is on the album?
CK: I pulled from several genres as I wanted people to cross over. There are 'Pie Jesu', 'In Paradisum', 'Panis Angelicus', 'Balulalow'. There are some purely classical tracks on there, but I've also done a cover of 'Closest Thing to Crazy', which really I was sceptical about when it was suggested but it's just got such fantastic lyrics - Mike Batt [songwriter] is just a genius.

There's 'Rule the World' and then there are things like 'She Moved through the Fair', the Celtic, sort of lilty-type songs. I wanted to make it an album that's accessible to everybody. I didn't want to exclude anyone. If you don't like the purely classical tracks, well just zip through them - there are plenty of contemporary ones and vice versa.

It's more of a feeling, more of a mood, the record. It's not a genre as such. You put it on on a Sunday when you're in bed with all your kids eating breakfast or you listen to it with a sweetheart while you're having a romantic meal. I wanted to get a really loved-up, peaceful vibe. And I hope I have. People need chilled out stuff, especially right now.

HG: The best thing that happened to you was not getting in that girl band.
CK: Oh gosh, yes. In hindsight it was great, at the time I was absolutely crushed. Completely heartbroken. But everything happens for a reason.

HG: That career, with some very rare exceptions, it's very finite.
CK: You have a couple of years of wonderful success. You get used to people doing everything for you and then you get dropped and you can't get a normal job because you've a famous face. It's a terrible predicament for young people to be left in, especially since this happens to some of them when they're about 18-years-old. I don't know how I would have dealt with it if I was any younger, honestly. I think it definitely came at the right time for me.

HG: But a lot of the time with those groups, it's not really about the music - it's about all the other stuff around the music.
CK: The image and the branding. I've really kept it close to what it should be. I didn't want to be one of these people going off on a tangent, selling pictures of themselves to tacky newspapers - that was never going to be me.

HG: In terms of having a classical career, how much training does a singer need to have?
CK: A classical singer like Katherine Jenkins would have years of private singing lessons and luckily for her - and she did deserve it - she won a scholarship to the Royal Academy.

Because I couldn't afford the years of lessons, a scholarship was not an option for me. And because we couldn't afford the fees, that was not an option either. It's quite a closed off world and if I had had the opportunity to pursue it I would've done it without a second thought. But it wasn't and I didn't want my life to be without music, so I thought, 'Well, how can I take this further? How can I continue to sing?' And the way forward for me [then] was pop.

HG: So when the pop thing didn't work out did you go for classes?
CK: I worked loads. I did loads of gigs, pop gigs. I used to do working men's clubs and pubs and stuff. I saved up quite a lot of money and started having regular weekly lessons with this teacher until I thought that I was at a point where I could make this demo and give it out. But it was a lot of work.

HG: They say it's tough doing places like working men's clubs.
CK: I enjoyed it. I really earned my stripes. Sometimes I was singing in a pub in front of a flatscreen TV with the football on when all anybody wanted to do was watch the football. And I was like, 'Why have you booked me today?'

Other times, especially in working men's clubs, everybody would be having a great time and they would have a pint or two and you start getting people... I never got any abuse, none at all, but you start getting people trying to chat you up and steal the mic from you.

It's good, it really makes you prepared for anything. I do 'The Late Late Show' and people are like, 'Are you ok? Are you ok?' And I say, 'These people actually want to hear me! There's no-one here to steal my microphone! I'll be fine'.

HG: I remember reading a singer once saying that if you couldn't perform under a single light bulb you couldn't do it at all. You've done the single light bulb thing.
CK: In the corners of tiny pubs when there are three people there and when no one's listening to you. In really swanky restaurants where no-one's listening to you either but you have to sing really quietly so as not to offend anyone. I also did a lot of things in churches, but I love that because everyone loves listening when you're singing to God. I really have earned my stripes!

HG: Do you believe what they say about everyone having a voice for singing?
CK: If you can speak you can sing. And I think it depends on how you were raised. I was raised around music. When my mother was pregnant with me she went from loving terrible stuff - really terrible Seventies disco - to adoring classical music. And she thinks it was me, so I was always raised with it. It was not a new thing for me.

I think people who weren't raised with music and maybe people that can't sing as well... but with a little bit of training anyone can sing. It's so healthy, it's so good for you singing. That's why everyone sings in the shower or when they think no one's listening.

HG: How did you feel watching the whole Susan Boyle phenomenon?
CK: It was amazing. She's been given the chance at something she wanted for so long. She is at a later stage in her life and I think it's fantastic - more power to her. She's got a wonderful voice. I wish her all the luck. I was so pleased. I get a bit upset when they treat people badly on those kind of shows. And I thought, 'Oh, they're going to be terrible to this woman'. And she came out and I was like, 'There you go! She showed you!' Wonderful.

HG: Was self-confidence ever a problem for you?
CK: Peer pressure was never a problem - I was listening to opera when everyone else was listening to hip-hop. I knew it wasn't cool - I really, really knew! And I was constantly reminded by my friends gently teasing me.

No, it's [self-confidence] not really an issue. I find it ridiculously difficult to accept compliments - it's difficult to accept compliments for something you find fairly easy to do. And also, I want to keep myself grounded. I want to keep myself down to earth. And if I start listening to people, I'm just going to turn into this terrible person! And I'm absolutely unwilling to do that.

I had a photoshoot yesterday, a really glam one. It lasted about 18 hours and I had people fussing around me all day. I got home after 18 hours of work and my mum said, 'Eh, you don't mind doing those dishes, do you?' I was like, 'Mum, I've been working for 18 hours!' She said, 'Just do the dishes!' I did the dishes, sat down and said, 'I'll be fine'.

Camilla Kerslake's debut album is out now on Future/Mercury Records.
http://www.rte.ie/arts/2009/1104/kerslakec.html

A FORMER Guildford music academy student discovered by Gary Barlow is hoping for chart success on Sunday.

Classical singer Camilla Kerslake, 21, who studied music industry business at Guildford’s Academy of Contemporary Music, has had a whirlwind year since being signed to the Take That singer’s new record label in January.

With her debut single, She Moved Through the Fair, released on Monday, it is a far cry from her days commuting for four hours to London just to hand her demo to Barlow.

After four weeks of almost daily visits to the studio where Take That were recording, Camilla’s persistence paid off last December when he listened to her CD and loved it.

One month later, she was signed to his Future Records label.

The rising star, whose debut album comes out on November 16, said: “It’s been a complete whirlwind this past year, but I have had a few months for it to sink in now, so it’s not too overwhelming.

“One of the reasons I’ve kept a level head is because I had done the business course and understood the workings of the industry, so I was very lucky.”

Kerslake has described her style as more classical than operatic, but said she did not want to be pigeon-holed.

“Although my new album has some classical pieces, it also has a couple of folk songs and other styles, so it’s not really a classical album. I would call it more of a ‘mood’.

“I ideally want it to be a soundtrack to people’s lives, for my song to be the one a couple fall in love to, or that they hear on a Sunday morning.”

Kerslake, who names opera singer Lesley Garrett as one of her inspirations, did not know Take That when the band first came onto the music scene in the 1990s.

“I was only four-years-old at the time,” she said. “But I loved Take That when they made their comeback and I think their Beautiful World record is fantastic.”

Although she originally planned to be a doctor, Kerslake decided she wanted to be a professional singer when a teacher overheard her voice and saw her talent.

“When I told my parents, I fully expected them to be un-enthusiastic about my choice, but they said ‘What took you so long?’.”

Kerslake is now searching for the UK’s best amateur choristers to perform with her at the annual Carol Concert for The Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts in December.

The auditions will give 16 choristers a chance to break into a difficult industry.

“I didn’t get into the classical music world the normal way. I didn’t perform at a conservatory,” she said.

“It was never a route open to me. So it’s fantastic to give others a chance to perform in a concert that will be broadcast nationally by Classic FM.

“I’m glad to help showcase local talent that may otherwise have gone unnoticed.”
http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/enterta....ew_star

Nov 8 2009 Sunday Mail

RISING classical star Camilla Kerslake has won a dream contract with Gary Barlow - after pestering the Take That hunk every day for a month.

The 21-year-old turned up at Gary's studio hoping he might listen to her CD and give her advice - but was stunned when he offered her a deal.

Camilla told Email: "Going to that studio on those freezing mornings, I never imagined I'd end up working with him and signed to his label.

"I was taking CDs to him as he seemed like a nice man. I thought he may take time out to point me in the right direction, give me a name or number of someone he thought would work for me.

"I went to the studio every day for four-and-a-half weeks. I couldn't hang around there as I was at uni.

"I had to leg it down from Surrey, a two-hour journey, drop off a CD then get back for lectures. Some mornings I left home at 6am. It showed commitment - either that or it was completely terrifying. I'm glad Gary took it the right way and I am not behind bars now."

Camilla was amazed when she got the news that changed her life.

She said: "I got the call on the Friday from Celia McCamley, MD of Gary's label Future, to set up a meeting on Monday with Gary.

"In those few days I borrowed money off my parents, went to Primark and got a new outfit for s20.

"I have never been more nervous or excited in my life. He offered to sign me then and there but we had to go through all the lawyers and things so it was a few weeks - the longest of my life."

Unlike many celebs who front record labels, Camilla says Gary has been involved in every aspect of her development. And she has never felt nervous or under pressure working with him.

She said: "Gary makes everyone feel comfortable regardless of their station within the company, who they are or what their personal beliefs are.

"I have never felt pressure from the label. It comes from me because I want to do well for Gary as he has invested time and money in me.

"Choosing the songs for the record was a collaborative process and it was fantastic. Gary emails me a few times a week. I have had lots of texts this week saying good luck with different things.

"He has told me time and time again to ring when I want advice. He is such a kind man and a family man."

Camilla reckons her famous mentor has prepared her perfectly for fame.

She said: "I think I am ready. I hope so. I am being very realistic about it all and remembering it is my job, not my whole life.

"Gary sent me an email two months ago, before I started doing interviews, telling me to enjoy the next month because people would start recognising me soon.

"So I didn't wear make-up and went for jogs in trampy clothes. I enjoyed it. Now I'm always made up to the hilt and in lovely outfits."

Camilla - whose debut album is out on November 23 - is offering other wannabe singers the chance to perform with her at St James's Church in London on December 11.

She added: "This industry is hard to break into and I'm glad to be able to help showcase local talent.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the entries and picking 16 stars to sing with me.

"The main advice if you want to get into this industry is just do it and don't take no for an answer. It is all about persistence.".

Log on to camillakerslake.com/choir for more information.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz....1806425

The TV campaign, developed by the ad agency MCBD, breaks tomorrow night and features Kerslake's version of the hymn How Can I Keep From Singing?, which has also been recorded by Enya and Pete Seeger.

Waitrose's Christmas ad, which breaks tomorrow night, forms part of a wider innovative marketing campaign that will promote the supermarket chain in the run-up to Christmas and Kerslake's debut album, which launches on 23 November through Barlow's Future Records.

The song, recorded exclusively for the TV campaign, also features in the launch ad campaign for Kerslake's album, which will also cross-promote the tie-up with the supermarket chain.

Kerslake will also perform at a number of Waitrose-backed food events including the Taste of Christmas Festival, while the album will also be sold in-store.

Waitrose's TV ad is a redeveloped version of last year's campaign, which focused on being at home, which the supermarket said delivered its best-ever Christmas sales performance.

The company will follow this with a series of press and TV ads that will focus on specific special offers and deals.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media....erslake

Part 2: http://www.mediafire.com/?m232mnmqgzm

She's an incredible singer with the voice of an angel?. look out for her on various TVs (like Alan Titchmarsh on Monday and The Lottery on Wednesday) and listen out for the voice behind the Waitrose advert!!

She has recorded a version of 'Rule The World' which I love,click here to view. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG1RmJKPcvU

We had great fun making the record and I really enjoyed being involved in a different part of the process. Choosing the songs was great fun! We have some footage of the album being made that you can watch here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkjXUizxQJU

The album is out on Monday and we are really proud of it. You can pre-order it by clicking here. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Camilla....s=music It also contains a CD of bonus Christmas carols?.I can't believe it's Christmas already! She will be on tour with Il Divo in December and it will be exciting to see her first live shows.

20 November 2009

CHORISTERS from Waveney are being invited to audition for a choir led by the protégé of Take That singer Gary Barlow.

Camilla Kerslake, the classical star discovered by Gary has launched a nationwide search for the country's best amateur singers to join her at a very special carol concert in London this December.

Camilla's Choir will perform for the Prince's Foundation for Children and the Arts held at St James' Church on Friday, December 11 and will accompany her on the hymn How Can I Keep From Singing, which is the soundtrack to this year's Waitrose television campaign.

They will also sing The First Noel with her. Classic FM will record the concert for broadcast later in December.

Camilla is looking for 16 choral singers from all over the UK - four soprano, four alto, four tenor and four bass.

Choristers from Waveney are invited to upload a clip of themselves performing How Can I Keep From Singing to Camilla's website

http://camillakerslake.com/choir or send in a CD / DVD of their performance.

“I'm so very excited to have this opportunity of putting a choir together,” she said. “This industry is a hard one to break into and I'm glad to be able to help showcase local talent that may otherwise have gone unnoticed! I'm looking forward to seeing all the entries and picking sixteen stars to sing with me at St James's in December."

Gary Barlow will form part of the judging panel who will make the final decision on her singers.
http://www.becclesandbungayjournal.co.uk/content....9%3A407