The Liverpool Music Awards cater to talented musicians year after year. It’s here that the City of Culture’s best musicians are rewarded for their great talents and in 2012 it was time for a young musician to surprise even himself. Ali Ingle is a singer/songwriter from Liverpool whose increasing popularity won him ‘Best Male Artist‘. Ingle has come along way since releasing his debut EP ‘The Man and The Monster‘ back in early 2012. The 23 year old has achieved much, from winning awards to getting signed recently. But where did it all begin for this young musician?
“When I was in school around the age of 14 or 15, I remember I took music as a GCSE because it was the only lesson where I thought you didn’t really have to do any work. [Learning] happened really naturally. I’d learn a few songs, start singing a few songs and one day I was brave enough to sing to my mates at a barbecue and they didn’t hate it so I carried on. From there it just grew.”
Ingle’s first gig is a moment that he can’t forget. Just on Myspace at the time, around the age of 16. Somebody messaged him saying that they were putting on a gig and wondered if he would like to perform. He then went on to talk about his reaction after his first gig.
“I just remember being really nervous. Some of my mates now still say it was the best gig I’ve ever done, which is a bit annoying.” Laughed Ingle. “It was a defining moment. I felt like I had all this adrenaline, like being invincible. I guess you get that feeling after most gigs but I guess it just felt like a defining moment where I knew I wanted to do this. It was cool.”
Ingle developed musical influences from an early age. His parent’s music was what first got him interested in music.
“I always listened to the stuff that my mum and dad would play me like most people really. It was like Van Morrison and Radiohead. I remember the first tape they got me was The Beautiful South but I also had a terrible purchasing of albums as a kid. But mainly it was people like Billy Bragg, Van Morrison and I got into David Gray at an early age.”
From a love story based on a shared passion for space hoppers, to a wind-up toy bull simply trying to find its way home and managing to maneuver a number of public transports in the process. These are just two of Ingle’s imaginative and enjoyable music videos. By making music videos for a majority of his songs, he is doing something that many young musicians lack to do today. He is putting an image to his words.
“I think it’s solely the music videos that I have to thank for everything. Until then I was putting songs out into the aether of the internet and they were just getting lost. I was getting a few listens, a few plays but the second I put a video out everything just followed it. I just feel that people these days need something visual, especially the younger generation. Today you get great videos, great effects, so I don’t think it’s just about the music anymore.”
A key moment in Ingle’s career was winning ‘Best Male Artist‘ at The Liverpool Music Awards. He was being recognised for his talent and success. However actually believing that he himself managed to win would be a bigger achievement for him.
“I honestly did not expect to win the award. It got to the point where I got drunk on the night and just thought it doesn’t matter, but the second they called my name out I just couldn’t believe it. I had to get up and probably give the worst speech in the history of the world. It was insane. I was up against such established people, I was just happy to be nominated.”
The success of winning ‘Best Male Artist‘ was more than Ingle could ask for, however there was much more to come. Shortly after The Liverpool Music Awards he managed to get signed to Kundun.
“It’s run by a guy called Guy Holmes who was behind Gut Records. They signed people like U2, Jessie J and David Guetta. He said he loved my music so after lots of talks and meetings he signed me. It was such a great day and since then he’s been great. He’s done more than I could ever ask for.”
Ingle’s mum recalls the night he first played to her. “I thought it was wonderful. I’d asked who it was by and when he told me he’d wrote it I didn’t believe him! I guess it was from that moment on that I knew he, as cheesy as it sounds, was born to do it.”
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