PALOMA FAITH ON MOANING MUSIC MOGULS, CASH-STRAPPED STUDENTS AND HER OLD SCHOOL

SINGER Paloma Faith has praised the teachers at her former school for doing an incredible job in the face of adversity and thrown her support behind the recent student protests
Speaking from her bathtub, the eccentric performer – a former pupil of Islington Green School – also criticised wealthy music industry figures for complaining about suffering during the recession.


Paloma, who is due to play a gala show of her collaboration with trumpeter/arranger/composer Guy Barker – Down at the End of Lonely Street – alongside a full orchestra at the Barbican on December 10, said: “When you look at world news, I think we’re really well off, maybe not as well off as in the 80’s and maybe that’ll never happen again.

"From the small perspective of being in the music industry I work with a lot of people who were in the music business when they earned shedloads of money and now they’re all complaining. Well they look pretty well off to me, I’ll be honest. I think a lot of people are rich people complaining they’re not as rich, but they’re still rich.”

Paloma, who is working on her second album, took a minute to praise her former teachers at Islington Green School.
She said: “I had an amazing education there. It’s funny because at the time I did my exams it was one of the schools that had one of the worst reputations in the country but I have to say the teachers were incredible.”

Now a bestselling artist, Paloma recalled appearing in school productions but never scoring the coveted main role.
Recalling one production of Little Shop of Horrors, she said: “I was never one of the leads I was always one of the dancers because at that time I was really into dance.”

Paloma also took the opportunity to voice support for students protesting against the coalition government’s plans to increase university fees.
She said: “It’s a shame the (protests) went violent because it reflects badly on their argument. If they’re protesting and saying all this stuff about being the future, what kind of impression does that give if they’re smashing things up? It's a shame for the students that genuinely are the future and are wonderful and have a lot to contribute because it gets them down as well. But I understand their reasoning because I do think that kind of debt is really intimidating to people specially people from poorer backgrounds.”

She added: “To a person who’s working, £9k is not that bad but if you look at that figure from the perspective of someone who comes from nothing and whose mother and father never in their lives can conceive of £9k or let alone earn it then I think that figure can be seen as extremely threatening and intimidating. It’s really sad and awful. It's great that students are protesting. For years I came from a really non political generation."

It is not the first time Paloma has commented on the British education system in the Press.
She appeared on This Week alongside Michael Portillo to discuss education in October last year.

The singer confessed to looking forward to her Barbican show, a venue she admired when growing up.
She said: “It's always been this place that was like the cultural centre of the area I was brought up in. The Barbican was quite close so it feels quite exciting to be part of it.

As a kid growing up I always saw it as somewhere quite posh and where rich people go from the perspective of a young kid in Islington and Hackney. But now I’m playing there it feels like a breakthrough for me.”

SEE the first part of this interview here - Paloma's Bathtime Revelations