Moments To Sabre
London by the way of Wexford and back again, it's been a strange journey for the man with the voice you just can't pinpoint. Since Maverick Sabre last spoke to Hot Press things have really taken off for the "male Amy Winehouse."
Craig Fitzpatrick, 17 Oct 2011
“Most definitely,” he beams. “The category’s so strong this year and that’s no bad thing, whoever wins deserves it. It’s a great group of musicians and an honour to be part of a scene like that.”
For Sabre, his appearance on Later… With Jools Holland trumps everything.
“That was beyond an honour. It’s something I’ve watched since I was a kid, it was always my dream to be on it, y’know? It didn’t really hit me until I had Jools introducing me.” Sabre launches into a perfect impression of the cockney pianist’s presenting style. “‘And next up we’ve got Maverick Sabre!’” he says with a suitably theatrical flourish. “That was a moment of my career that I’ll never forget. My dad was there in the audience waving away at me… it was lovely.”
Next up is the all-important album. Due out on Mercury in the New Year, Maverick is bullish about
its chances.
“The only pressure I feel is the pressure that I put on myself, not to chart or sell a shedload. I’ve got my own standards set in my head. If it meets them then I’ll
be happy.”
His self-belief certainly came in handy during his early forays on the Irish hip hop scene. Back then, as he himself admits, he would often arrive on stage and be booed or play to no one at all. Is there a resistance in this country to homegrown hip hop?
“It wasn’t so much resistance. It was more that the interest wasn’t really there. You have to spend time building that. I’ve been writing songs since I was about ten and performing since I was 15. So I’d been slogging away for a good while. A lot of people watch The X Factor and think that everything comes instantly. With real music, it doesn’t. You have to grow naturally until you have a hardcore fanbase. It’s all about tapping away to achieve that. Getting to a place where people want to pay money and travel to come see you, put your video on every day when they wake up or buy your song on iTunes. Support you, text in to radio stations, ask festivals to book you… Hopefully that means, in 20-40 years time I can still do shows and my fans will still
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