Grace Chatto FAULT Magazine Covershoot and Interview

Grace Chatto of Clean Bandit Photoshoot
Latex bra: Elissa Poppy
Jacket: Moschino
Underwear: Aniye Records
Bottoms: Aniye Records
Shoes: Rene Caovilla

Photographer: David Yeo
Model: Grace Chatto
Stylist: Caterina Ospina @StellaCreativeArtists
Hair Stylist: Liam Curran @The Only Agency
Makeup Artist: Phoebe Taylor @GaryRepresents

Words: Fabio Magnocavallo

What does Clean Bandit have in common with One Direction, Coldplay, and Arctic Monkeys? Well, they’re one of four British acts to have four separate songs achieve over 1 billion streams on Spotify.

Capturing the hearts of radio listeners and live crowds, Clean Bandit, made up of musicians Grace Chatto and brothers Jack Patterson and Luke Patterson, became one of the UK’s biggest dance groups after their 2014 single “Rather Be,” featuring Jess Glynne, put them on the map and topped the charts globally. Winning a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording and two IVOR Novello’s for Most Performed Work and Best Contemporary Song, the hits and big-name collaborations have since continued. From “Solo” with Demi Lovato, “Rockabye” with Anne-Marie and Sean Paul, and “Symphony” with Zara Larsson to “I Miss You” with Julia Michaels and “Tick Tock” with Mabel and 24kGoldn, Grace Chatto and Clean Bandit have been dominating our playlists for quite some time now.

Preparing for another era, Clean Bandit’s Grace Chatto sits down with FAULT for an exclusive interview to discuss the upcoming material, working with other artists on their projects, and the next big thing she hopes the band will achieve.

Grace Chatto of Clean Bandit Photoshoot
Jacket: Alessandra Rich
Shoes: Giuseppe Zanotti
Jewellery: Misho

FAULT Magazine: It’s been over a year and a half since Clean Bandit last released a single. Even though you are preparing for a release in August, has it been important for the band to take time out from releasing and just focus on creating?

Grace Chatto: No, we never actually intended to. We had to make some shifts in our team, which has caused a huge delay. A lot of the stuff we’re gonna be releasing we’ve been making over the past three or four years, but had trouble getting it out. So now we are kind of free to release what we want finally because the last six years have actually been a bit tricky [laughs]. The last year and a half we’ve been in Miami and Jamaica and writing in loads of different styles for different projects that aren’t our own. It’s really exciting as well to be featuring and collaborating.

Does that mean the third studio album is finished or are you still putting finishing touches on it?

We’re still putting the finishing touches on it with some of the vocalists. A lot of the time we write with the singers that feature on the songs, but mainly we make the songs and then try and work out who would be the best voice. That’s always quite challenging.

With new collaboration opportunities coming up all the time, is it hard to distinguish when an album is complete?

Yeah, I mean, we’ve only done two, but we knew very clearly when they were finished. Now because of the gap between releases, we’ve got so many songs that we could drop two albums, so we’re trying to whittle it down a bit.

Clean Bandit
Blazer: Dolce and Gabbana
Shoes: Christian Louboutin
Jewellery ( earrings ): Shaun Leane
Jewellery ( ring ): Kinks Lab

Do you think that you will end up releasing two albums if there’s enough good material?

I hope so, yeah. It’s working out how to divide the songs and also I reckon that we’ll drop a couple of projects as well. We have a Latin project that we are doing that I think will be separate. I’ve been working with incredible Colombian, Brazilian, and Argentinian artists and amazing Puerto Rican artists that we’re about to release a song with. 

You revealed in one of your recent interviews that the next Clean Bandit single is a song you love more than any other you’ve released. What is it about that song that is so special?

We’ve actually shifted that to the second single now [laughs]. It just feels so fresh and it’s so different from anything I’ve ever heard, let alone made. So it feels really exciting and it’s quite emotional as well. It’s with a singer that we’ve worked with before and that was such a beautiful experience and this feels like we’ve both grown up a bit. The other song we’re releasing probably sooner is one that we’ve been working on for years and have done millions of different versions. That one is so special to me because we’ve ended up going with a very early pure version of the song and stylistically it’s been in a lot of different directions.

Top: Samanta Virginio
Bottom: Samanta Virginio

Has the artist on the song always featured on it throughout its revisions?

They’ve always been featured on it. They co-wrote it too. They’re another singer who we’ve worked with before so we’re keeping it in the family!

You said the next single has gone back to an “early pure version.” How does it sound?

It’s a kind of country, country-house type track. Just like to put it out there, we did do it four years ago! [laughs] We’re not jumping on the bandwagon.

Grace Chatto of Clean Bandit Photoshoot
Jacket: Lucila Sadie
Dress: Lucila Sadie
Jewellery (rings): Mam
Shoes: Christian Louboutin

Is that annoying?

Yeah, a little bit. But it’s fine. It’s also fun that it’s happening now. When it comes out I’m actually gonna cry because I’ve been trying to get it out for four years [laughs].

How are the other songs on the album sounding? Clean Bandit experiments a lot with sonics but you can always tell it’s one of yours.

I think you’ll know immediately that it’s us. Especially this country one because it starts with really beautiful string parts. There’s a delicateness to Jack, my bandmate, the way he produces drums and stuff. I think it’s quite recognizable. The other single is the one I’m obsessed with. It’s very different. It’s very fast. 

That’s the song that’s now coming out second?

Almost definitely, but they keep switching over [laughs]. But yeah, the second one probably. It’s very clubby with a very dancey feel. Very driving. I think you can still tell it’s Clean Bandit.

You’ve been known to collaborate with artists from all walks of life. Do you think there are going to be some this time around that are still unexpected?

Yes, definitely. Our first album was very eclectic in terms of different sounds from all over the world, but maybe the second one was a bit more homogenised somehow in terms of the sound worlds. But yeah, we’ve always been interested in the juxtaposition of unexpected sounds, and the fact that we are kind of free to work with different voices on every song really helps and allows that to happen. We’ve spent a lot of time in Miami recently and Jamaica and Lagos as well, so working with loads of different artists in different languages. All the Spanish stuff I love because lyrically it just sounds so good even if you can’t understand what it’s saying. I love that, like using the words as sounds more than words.

Dress: Chet Lo
Shoes: Christian Louboutin

Clean Bandit has also been known to work with artists before their breakthroughs. Jess Glynne and Anne-Marie would be obvious names to reference. On your debut album in 2014, however, you did work collaborate with Lizzo before she became a global star. What was it like working with her and how did you come to know of her music so early on?

She’d just done that “Batches & Cookies” song and I knew her as a rapper. I didn’t know that she could sing at that time so when she came in and sang the hook on our song “New Eyes,” we were just so blown away. As a rapper, she’s just so crazy. We ended up doing a tour together as well across America, which was amazing. It was in tiny venues as well, her energy was just crazy. 

Has souring these collaborations gotten easier as the band has become more established and successful? Is there a particular formula you follow that works or do some of these features happen when you least expect it?

Yeah, it can. It can happen like that. But I wouldn’t say it’s got any easier. It’s always the most challenging part because we just never know. Even when someone loves a song, it has to align with their whole team and their schedule and all of that. So yeah, that does cause delays sometimes when we wanna get something out immediately and then we have to put it back a year or something. Occasionally, people DM us out of nowhere, saying, “Have you got anything? Let’s collaborate.” And then it just comes together really quickly and is amazing. But yeah, normally it’s via DM we reach out to people and hope for the best.

Clean Bandit has so many accolades under their belt. Four songs to have a billion streams each, Ivor Novello awards, a Grammy. Is there anything you really want to achieve within the next campaign?

I’d love to play at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre one day in Colorado. We played there once supporting Chic and Duran Duran but it would be great to go and do our own show there. But yeah, in terms of streaming and numbers and all of that, it’s quite hard to compute. We don’t try not to think about that. We wanna make our own music videos again because we kind of stopped a little bit, but we are just writing the script for our new video. I really wanna get back into the filming side. 

What about a BRIT Award? You’ve already got the Grammy!

That’s what we need, definitely! That’s a good goal.

Where are you keeping the Grammy?

Oh, it’s in my toilet [laughs]. It’s behind the glass cabinet, so it looks nice.

What is your FAULT? The last time you were asked this, you said you were sometimes too bossy. That’s not a bad thing!

Oh, well, of late I haven’t been bossy enough.

Maybe the songs would’ve come out sooner if you were a little bossier!

Yeah, exactly. I took my foot off the gas [laughs].

Do you have an updated one?

I don’t know, sometimes I’m too quiet. I don’t say in the moment what I mean. I really wanna speak more quickly.

Lace cardigan: Fruity Booty
Lace top: Fruity Booty
Jeans: Versace

And lastly, what else will 2024 consist of for Clean Bandit? You mentioned that you’ve got material for other artists’ projects also coming out. Can we expect any of that this summer?

I think that our music will start coming out over the summer as well as the artists’ song we’ll be featuring on. But again, yeah, the timing is still aligning. We are shooting a video with the Puerto Rican singer that I mentioned before and the Colombian band in the coming months. I’m pretty sure those will come out quite soon. 

It must feel exciting that you are going to feature on someone else’s song as opposed to the other way around. 

Yeah! We’ve not really done that before, but it’s really cool. It means we can get more songs out more quickly. When we release something we have to let it breathe before we can release something else. But like this, it can hopefully be rolling relentlessly. 

What about touring? This year or next?

Next year! We’re creating a new, really exciting, completely different live experience this time around.