Jamie Webster interview

Liverpool singer-songwriter Jamie Webster on his love affair with Glastonbury, “milestone” gig in Sefton Park and why he will always be grateful to LFC fans

Words | Lawrence Saunders

You played Glastonbury Festival last month for the third year in a row. Starting on Leftfield in 2022, you went to the Avalon Stage in 2023 and The Other Stage this year… Pyramid Stage in 2025?

That would be lovely! We’ll have to wait and see. My set on the Avalon Stage in 2023 was good enough to warrant me coming back to a bigger stage this year – we locked out about three fields. My dream is to play the Pyramid Stage one day. I mean, I’m a realist, I feel like headlining it might be a little bit out of reach but just to play on that stage would be the holy grail for me. We’ll see whether it’s 2025 or 2027 because I think they’re having a fallow year in 2026.

What is it about Glastonbury that makes it stand out from other festivals? Both as a performer and as a punter.

I went about six times as a punter – as most scousers have! When you arrive at the festival for the first time, you’re overwhelmed by not only the size of it but by how much there is to do and how nice everyone is. Even if not nice people are there, I bet they are nice at Glastonbury! There’s just something about the place. It’s the best party in the world. I’d take a gig at Glastonbury over a cup final any day of the week. As an artist, the experience of playing Glastonbury is unbelievable and it makes people within the music industry take notice of you when they see you’re on the line-up.

The biggest show of your career so far is taking place this month at Sefton Park. How does it feel to be playing in front of 40,000 people in one of Liverpool’s most iconic locations?

Even though I grew up in the north end of Liverpool, I went to St Margaret’s secondary school on Aigburth Road. When I finished primary school there was a lot of bad stuff going on in my area (Croxteth/West Derby) with gangs. A lot of the trouble was starting in schools an  because my mum knew I had a brain, she didn’t want me to p**s away an education by hanging around with idiots. Danny, who plays guitar in my band and introduced me to a lot of music, was in my year at St Margaret’s.

It was nice that I went to that school but I had to wake up at half six and get two buses! We used to get off near St Hilda’s to meet our girl mates and then walk through Sefton Park. I live on the doorstep of Croxteth Park and I’m always there but on a weekend me and my wife love taking the dog around Sefton and walking down Lark Lane. It’s a dream to be playing at Sefton Park. Some huge names have played there in the past like Nile Rodgers, Echo & the Bunnymen and Kings of Leon. It’s a massive milestone for me but the problem is where do I go next!

Many people first became aware of you because of your interpretations of popular football songs. Now you’ve released three studio albums of your own material, do you think the public recognises you as Jamie Webster ‘singer/songwriter’, rather than Liverpool FC’s semi-official musician?

Depends on who you ask. There’ll be a lot of people now who will say ‘Jamie Webster? Yeah, he’s a musician. Jamie Webster ‘Weekend In Paradise’, Jamie Webster ‘We Get By’, whatever’. The problem is the people who fell in love with me for the Liverpool stuff probably aren’t the biggest music fans.

For a lot of people [not playing Liverpool songs at gigs] was a hard thing to get their heads around. I still get messages on social media from people asking if I’ll be playing ‘Allez Allez Allez’ at Glastonbury, and I’m like ‘no!’ [laughs].

Don’t get me wrong, I am so grateful to Liverpool fans because they gave me a platform in the first place – when I released my first single (‘Weekend In Paradise’) it was only the Liverpool fans who gave it a go. But sometimes as LFC fans, we think we are the only football fans in the world, and the only thing that matters. If I sang a LFC song at one of my gigs, 40% of the crowd could be Evertonians or there could be people there from Newcastle or Glasgow, and I’d be alienating them.

Are you still involved with LFC on a professional basis?

I’m going on tour with LFC this pre-season, I love them. I did songs for Klopp’s last game. I’ve got a great relationship with the club and I want that to continue of course but the thing that gets me out of bed in the morning is my own music and everything which comes with that. The LFC stuff is a hobby, the best hobby in the world. I live a nice life and I’m very, very fortunate.

The fans’ belief in me has made this all possible – that’s why I write the music I write, I write for the people who have put me where I am. I feel lucky to be doing what I’m doing – whether I’m singing an LFC song or ‘Something In The Air’. My electrician days are way behind me for the time being!

What are your thoughts on the new LFC head coach and the upcoming season?

I like the things Arne Slot has said so far. He’s given Jürgen massive credit and admitted that his tactics are quite similar but that he’s got a few different ideas of his own. Towards the end of last season, there were a few results that didn’t go our way and I think the freshness [that Arne brings] will be good.

As fans, we must do exactly what Jürgen said and get behind the new manager the way we got behind him. Whether Arne Slot wins or loses his first five games, we owe him a proper atmosphere at Anfield. We need to show him what type of club he’s joined – don’t just let Jürgen tell him how good the fans are! Let’s show him what it means to be a LFC manager and the energy levels that he needs to meet. We are behind him 100%, we will walk through walls for him like we did for Jürgen, but he’s got to deliver on his end as well.

When I met Jürgen in New York in 2019 he said to me: ‘Keep doing what you’re doing and we’ll keep doing what we’re doing as a team. I’m not saying if we all do this we’ll definitely win everything but there’s a lot better chance that we will’ – and we f *****g did! As fans, I think we owe Arne Slot the same levels of enthusiasm, energy and passion that we showed Jürgen – especially in the early stages. He [Arne] seems like a nice, down-to-earth guy. He speaks English better than most of the people in this city as well! I’m going on the pre-season tour to play for the fans but I’m keen to get an eye on him – see how he is with the backroom staff and his players. Not that I’m the one he’s got to impress [laughs] but as a fan I just want to see what kind of manager we’ve got.

jamiewebstermusic.com

Related posts:

Jamie Webster interview: Singer-songwriter on his debut album, LFC and drinks with Klopp John Power interview: Allerton-born singer talks The La’s, Cast, Jamie Webster and LFC Charles Hazlewood interview: Renowned musical director talks about his latest work and much more Liverpool duo selected for unsung heroes award The Slaughter House pub reopens its doors Liverpool to host world premiere of Beatles documentary