Soulful song bird and signed recording artist Lizzy Parks is the latest addition to the French Riviera's pool of fantastic international musical talent. Lizzy made the move from London to Cannes in July 2009 and hasn't looked back since. With a new album in the works, Lizzy has developed her own blend of soulful jazz with cool beats and positive, up beat lyrics. For her first magazine interview in France, Lizzy Parks hooks up with FR2DAY’s Kerry Bracken for a chat about her music career and life on the Riviera. 

KB Lizzy, This year has been a year of big change for you, what made you leave London for the French Riviera?

LP I came to Cannes for the first time in January 2009 for the Midem conference with my record label Tru Thoughts. They do an event every year at the SUN7 bar and as I was a reasonably new signing they asked me to come along and sing. We all had a great night and were welcomed warmly by the bar owner Thomas who is a big fan of the label. He joked casually about the two of us falling in love, and me moving to The South of France and minus the marriage 10 months down the line, that's exactly what happened!

Given that my lifestyle as a singer, songwriter and recording artist can be so different on a day to day basis, the move wasn't a hard practical decision to make. Leaving friends and family was that bit harder but I've been really lucky and have already made some good friends in France and Skype is just brilliant for those moments that you miss home!

KB How are you settling in to the South of France lifestyle?

LP My most instinctive answer would be that I love it, and that's the truth. Coming from England you cant complain about the weather, the sea, the culture and the food and wine here, it's just all such an experience! But, I think making the move to any foreign environment has its ups and downs. I can say that at no time in my life until my first couple of weeks in France had I sat in a bar on my own feeling like I was unable to say anything to anyone! It's tough trying to make friends with "Hi my name is Lizzy and I have 2 sisters and a brother" as your most interesting (and repetitive) topic of conversation!

I was gigging quite a lot in France already and have always loved it here. I had a dream about living here and learning French but could never imagine finding a good time in my life to do it but spending time gigging here gave me the confidence to make the move.

In terms of a career move, people would argue that leaving the bright lights and hustle and bustle of the city wasn't a good move, but here I have so much more time to enjoy writing and finding new ways to be inspired. London has a tendency to make you feel pressured into living the city to its fullest and after a few years that can get tiring. I fly from Nice to London every couple of weeks for gigs in the UK so I do get my fix of city life regularly.

KB What was the process of writing your three previous albums 'Watching Space', 'Raise the Roof' and 'This and That' like?

LP I wrote my first album 'Watching Space' as soon as I graduated from Uni. I have written songs for as long as I can remember, so had a whole bunch of them that I felt I needed to get out of my system.

The content and process of making my first album marked for me, the movement from adolescence into adulthood. The songs were very personal and I was surrounded by lots of talented friends from music college who helped me out with the recordings. I guess of all the albums this was the most 'pop' in terms of style but I'll always be very proud of that first album which started my path towards being a professional artist.

The second album 'Raise the Roof' was a totally different ball game as I recorded with a producer and orchestra for the first time. By then I had been gigging live for several years, I was much more confident and had begun to refine my musical taste! The album is more ambient, orchestral soul jazz in terms of style. I still have a lot of fun gigging the tracks from this album live as they are upbeat and good for getting a crowd up and dancing.

The third album 'This and That' came out really quickly after the second one as I felt that some of the tracks from 'Raise the Roof' had much more life left in them. We decided to re-record some down tempo, acoustic versions of the 'Raise the Roof' tracks which was quite an easy process as I already knew the songs like the back of my hand. Being given the chance to show another side of my songs was a lovely experience and the album sounds totally different from the second.

KB You are busy working on a new album at the moment, how is it going to be different from the others?

LP I've decided to take my time over the next album and have been listening to a lot of old and new Soul like Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings and Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators. I think it's time to write some upbeat, fun tunes so I'm spending a bit of time getting to know my way around various computer programmes that help me work up good quality demos.

I'm also currently working on a bunch of collaborations and one off tracks, including one with the French Producer Azaxx and the UK singer/songwriter Fink signed to Ninja Tune.

The long and short of it is that as you move through life as an individual and artist, your work and influences move with you. I always embrace that change. I don`t want to spend my entire musical career writing variations of the same track over again. It just means you need to ask the listener to come on that journey with you.

KB How would you describe your music?

LP Like 5 years in the life of a normal, emotional and happy person! There are slow songs, upbeat songs, silly songs, sensitive songs, you name it! I like to think there's something in there that everyone can enjoy. I hate being pigeon-holed but it's inevitable and essential when trying to get people interested in what you do. But it's a double edged sword, as soon as you say the word 'jazz' you may lose a entire potential audience who dislike John Coltrane but may enjoy what I do.

Being honestly described by people who have listened to and thought about my music is the most helpful thing. God bless the Internet!

KB Who would you say were your main musical influences?

LP All the old jazz gals, Ella, Billie, Sarah Vaughan. Instrumentalists like Wayne Shorter and Keith Jarrett. I take a lot of inspiration from voices like Feist or Sia who famously recorded with Zero 7 but is an amazing artist in her own right. In my eyes, Bjork is as good a songwriter as Joni Mitchel who I love. The list goes on! I can be equally as inspired by a successful artist as I can be by a good busker on the street, an interesting piece of art or a stunning view.

KB What songs are you listening to mostly on your ipod at the moment?

LP At the moment its all about happy Soul!

KB What do you feel that the response to your music has been like so far in France... I know one of your label mates Alice Russell has a larger following in France than back in the UK, do you feel maybe that the French audience is more susceptible to jazz and soul sounds?

LP I was actually surprised to find out that France is Tru Thoughts' biggest market in terms of record sales. It's a big country compared to the UK but when I gig here there's a definite difference between the organisers, promoters and fans compared to England. In France there's a real sense of respect for an artist and no-one expects anything for free. I'm looking forward to being more involved in the French scene and learning about French audiences. Alice is a hard working, fun, motivated and very talented girl. People love her wherever she goes because she's this tiny blond with a huge voice and a whole lot of sass which the French obviously appreciate!

KB Have you done any gigs in the area recently?

LP I went to Marseille last week to be part of the Radio Grenouille show 'Hangtime'. I got to play-list an hours worth of my favourite tunes, did an interview and sung a couple of tracks live on air which was fun! I played at a few big festivals in the summer such as Vienne and Dijon but having only been here properly for 4 months, I'm still finding my way around the local scene.

KB What have you got coming up next on the horizon?

LP I've got some nice gigs booked in for the UK next year. I'm going to give myself more time to write some new material, keep settling into France and spend lots more time with my Rosetta Stone learn French computer programme!

KB Where would your dream gig venue be?

LP Somewhere beautiful like a big Roman Amphitheatre with everyone out of their seats having a boogie!

Soulful Jazz Singer Lizzy Parks Raises the Roof on the French Riviera At 29, Devon born singer song writer and self proclaimed 'jazzy lassy' Lizzy Parks already has 3 albums under her belt. READ MORE