Matt Cardle

Matt Cardle

Matt Cardle photographed by Joseph Sinclair, April 2014.
Background information
Birth name Matthew Sheridan Cardle
Born 15 April 1983
Southampton, Hampshire,
England
Origin Halstead, Essex, England
Genres
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instruments
Years active 2005-present
Labels
Associated acts
Website www.mattcardlemusic.com

Matthew "Matt" Sheridan Cardle (born 15 April 1983)[1] is an English pop rock recording artist and songwriter. Cardle was born in Southampton, England and grew up in Halstead, Essex, England.[1] Cardle has been involved in music since his early teens and has been a member of two different bands; Darwyn and Seven Summers, with whom he experienced limited success. Cardle rose to fame after winning the seventh series of The X Factor, and received a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music and later signed a deal with Columbia Records.

Upon Cardle's victory on The X Factor, he released winner's single and debut single, "When We Collide".[2] The track was made available to purchase on 12 December 2010, shortly after the show had ended.[3] On 19 December 2010, the track debuted at number-one on the UK Singles Chart as well as Irish Singles Chart.[4] The track also became the second biggest-selling single of 2010 with 815,000 copies sold within two weeks.[5] In June 2012 it had sold 1 million copies, the fourth by an X Factor contestant.[6]

"Run for Your Life" was the follow-up single released by Cardle which charted at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart. Cardle went onto release his debut album, Letters, in 2011, which debuted at number-two on the UK Albums Chart and the Irish Albums Chart. The album saw two more singles released, "Starlight" and "Amazing". Cardle then parted ways with record labels Syco Music and Columbia Records, and signed a recording contract with So What Recordings in early 2012. He released his second studio album, The Fire, which charted at number 8 on the UK Albums Chart. In October 2013, Cardle released his third album, Porcelain, in association with Absolute Marketing as an independent release. It reached number 11 on the UK Albums Chart.[7] The lead single was a duet with Melanie C, called "Loving You", which was released on 18 August and reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart.

Cardle is a guitarist, and plays frequently on tour and other performances. He also plays other instruments including drums and piano. He has toured the United Kingdom and Ireland on his Letters Tour in 2012, Unplugged Tour in 2013 and Porcelain Tour in 2014. Cardle has combined album and single sales of over 2 million.[8]

Life and career

Early life and career beginnings

Cardle was raised in Halstead, Essex.

Cardle was born in Southampton, Hampshire, to David and Jennifer Cardle (née Horner) on 15 April 1983. He has an older brother called Dominic with whom he has a close relationship. His family lived in Bristol before moving to Essex.[1] At age two he was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer and had a kidney removed.[9] He started playing guitar and writing songs at aged 11 and knew from that point that music was what he wanted to do with his life.[1] At this time he also started singing lessons but stopped going after missing a class. He attended a summer band camp through his teens and played in bands. He attended the independent Stoke College in Suffolk, then studied a music course at the Institute in Colchester. He then went on to do a media course at Braintree College. Cardle is a keen skateboarder and spent a lot of his college years at skate parks instead of studying and therefore felt that education wasn't the right path for him.[1]

In 2005, Cardle joined alternative rock/pop band Darwyn and the band recorded an 11 track album, When You Wake, the band also released a follow-up EP, Little Sunlight in 2006.[10][11][12] The band described themselves as an acoustic rock band. The bands first album contained tracks "Violet" and title track "When You Wake". They were awarded an Arts Council England grant which they used to record the EP Little Sunlight.[13] The band played at many festivals including Stortford Music Festival and Brownstock Festival[14] and regularly played at the venue and recording studio Highbarn in Essex.[15] Cardle and Darwyn band member Ali McMillan also played as a two piece under the name Darwyn, playing acoustic cover versions of popular songs in venues in and around the Suffolk area [16] and videos of them playing together have gained many views on YouTube.[17]

In 2009, Cardle became the lead singer and guitarist of rock band called Seven Summers.[18] The band performed live on Sue Marchant's BBC radio program, in December 2009. They released their self-titled album in January 2010.[19] The album featured alternative rock, pop, urban and folk influences.[20] The album included the songs "Youngblood",[21] "Way to Be"[22] and "Dirt"[23] and the follow-up single "Picture of You". Although the band did not have a recording contract and they distributed their music independently, they reached No.30 on the Official UK Album Downloads Chart[24] and No.11 on the Official UK Independent Album Charts for week ending 25 December 2010,[25] and No.1 on the Official UK Independent Album Breakers Charts for week ending 25 December 2010.[26] Following Cardle's success on The X Factor, the band saw an upsurge in popularity, with their music videos gaining large numbers of views on YouTube.

2010: The X Factor era

Cardle performing on the X Factor tour.

In 2010, Cardle auditioned for the seventh series of The X Factor in front of Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole and Louis Walsh, singing Amy Winehouse's "You Know I'm No Good".[27] At the Bootcamp stage of the show he sang "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", a performance which prompted Simon Cowell to say "Why haven't we noticed him before?" and Louis Walsh to say "He's the biggest surprise of today for me!"[28] He was moved to the boys category when the age limit was raised to 28, making Dannii Minogue his mentor. Cardle was favourite to win from before the live shows until the end of the series, with some of the shortest odds the show had ever seen.[29][30] On the first live show he sang "When Love Takes Over" which received high praise from all four judges.[31] In week 5 he performed "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" again, which earned him the first standing ovation from all four judges of the series.[32][33] It remains his most viewed performance on YouTube with over 15 million views to date. The week before the semi-final he had to withdraw from a secret X Factor gig in London due to throat problems which saw him almost have to miss the show that weekend.[34] In the final he performed a duet with Rihanna.

Cardle was announced the winner on 12 December 2010, after receiving 44.61% of the vote. He received the most votes every week from week 2, being beaten only by Mary Byrne in week 1.[35] The week after the series final, Cardle's cover version of "Many of Horror" originally recorded by Scottish rock trio Biffy Clyro and retitled as "When We Collide", topped the UK Singles Chart to become the 2010 Christmas number 1 and remained there for three consecutive weeks.[36] The song was nominated in the Best British Single category at the 2011 BRIT Awards.[37] In June 2012 the song reached the one million sale mark, making it the 123rd single to sell a million copies in the UK and the fourth by an X Factor contestant.[38] In Ireland it is the fourth best selling single of all time.[39]

Cardle remains good friends with fellow contestant Aiden Grimshaw[40] and mentor Dannii Minogue.[41] On 15 March 2011, it was reported that Cardle has signed a record deal with Syco Music in a joint venture with Columbia Records, becoming the first The X Factor winner not to be exclusively signed to Simon Cowell's label.[42]

2011–12: Letters

Cardle performing at Hammersmith Apollo, March 2012.

On 18 August 2011, Cardle revealed that his debut album, Letters, would be released in the UK on 17 October 2011. Cardle said he was nervous about releasing his album as previous male X Factor winners have not been very successful, and female winners Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke enjoyed massive success.[43] Whilst working on the album Cardle collaborated with various writers including Eg White and James Walsh.[44] The album's first single, "Run For Your Life," written by Gary Barlow, was premiered on The Chris Moyles Show on 5 September 2011. Cardle appeared on the BBC Breakfast show on 1 September to give a preview of the video. The video was then premiered in full on 5 September on his YouTube channel. The single was released on 9 October 2011, Cardle performed the song on The X Factor on the same day. He also performed another track from the album, "All For Nothing", on ITV2 show The Xtra Factor. "Run For Your Life" peaked at number 6 on the UK Top 40 Chart. Prior to the album release Cardle went on a five date tour ending on 3 October at Koko in London. Letters was released on 17 October and debuted at number 2 on the UK Albums chart and spent 16 consecutive weeks in the top 40.[45]

A second single, "Starlight", was released on 4 December 2011. It had been originally intended as the first single before "Run For Your Life" was sent to him and was generally better received by fans and journalists.[46][47][48] Despite this, it only charted at number 185 but sparked a boost in album sales which saw "Letters" return to the top 25 on the album charts shortly after "Starlight"s release. The third and final single to be released from "Letters" was Amazing which was released as an EP, containing a new track called "All Is Said", which Cardle wrote with James Walsh, a new recording of "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and a live version of the album track "Slowly" recorded at the album launch. In February 2012 he embarked on a sell out tour, the Letters Tour. The tour ended on 29 March 2012 at Hammersmith Apollo. In September 2012 he said this was his favourite gig so far in his career.[49]

2012–13: New record label and The Fire

On 20 May 2012, Cardle announced on Twitter that he had parted ways with Columbia Records.[50] In October 2012, Cardle explained he left Sony through his own choice because he wasn't a priority. "I would just have been left to get on with it while One Direction ruled the planet. Which is brilliant for them - I'm so proud of them - but I needed to be a bit selfish. I asked Sony to let me go and they said okay."[51] Later, in October 2013 he stated another reason for leaving was because of the lack of control he had with decisions such as "Run For Your Life" being released as his first single instead of "Starlight" which he'd written and preferred.[52]

On 9 September 2012, So What Recordings, part of the Silva Screen Music Group, announced that Cardle's second album, The Fire would be released on 29 October 2012 on their label. On 11 September 2012, the lead single, "It's Only Love" was released online on Cardle's YouTube channel as an audio only video. The video for the song was premiered on 3 October. Even though the song was promoted as being the lead single, it was not released as a standalone product and was only made available to buy at the same time as the album, and therefore it did not enter the singles chart. The Fire debuted at number 8 in the UK album chart, giving Cardle his second top 10 album. He said the album is more like what he did before The X Factor than Letters, and feels more honest. "I’m getting closer to myself, and getting back to what I do and what I’ve always done."[53] A second single, "Anyone Else" was released on 31 December 2012. On 10 December 2012 an Unplugged tour was announced on Cardle's website.[54] Tickets went on general sale on 12 December with some dates selling out on the first day.[55] The tour ran through April and May 2013 over the UK and Ireland.

2013–present: Porcelain

On 16 April 2013 Cardle confirmed he was in the process of making his third album in a video message to his fans on Facebook.[56] In July 2013, Music Week announced he has teamed up with Absolute Marketing for the album, which is an independent release, having moved on from So What Recordings.[7] The title, Porcelain, was revealed on 19 August 2013, with 28 October 2013 as the release date. It is described as incorporating "everything from Rock, Funk, Soul, Gospel, Pop and Blues to create his most musically diverse piece of work yet."[57] The first single, a duet with Melanie C called "Loving You", premiered on The Ken Bruce Show on BBC Radio 2 on 2 July.[58] It was released 18 August 2013 and had a positive response on the charts in UK. It reached number 14 on the single chart, number 2 on the Independent charts, number 11 in the Scottish charts and top 50 in the Irish charts. The second single, "When You Were My Girl", was released on 13 October 2013.[59] On 8 October 2013 Cardle announced he has signed a worldwide publishing deal with BMG Chrysalis.[60] Porcelain reached number 11 on the UK Albums chart. On 25 February 2014, he announced the next single from the album would be "Hit My Heart".[61]

On 28 September, Cardle performed a cover of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" at the Miss World 2013 in Bali, Indonesia.[62] The Porcelain Tour in support of the album was announced on 30 October 2013, beginning in April 2014. [63]

On 20 June 2014, Cardle performed a free gig at the Portadown's Got Talent awards, hosted in the People's Park of Portadown, Northern Ireland. The event is part of the Peace Process in Northern Ireland and is supported and backed by the EU.

In August 2014 he confirmed he is working on his fourth album, expected to be released in 2015.[64]

Artistry

Cardle performing in Belfast, 2012.

Music and voice

Cardle is a tenor with a vocal range of around B2-F5.[65] Being a fan of heavy metal music from a young age, he had tried to emulate the singing style of his rock heroes such as Kurt Cobain, but found it was damaging his vocal chords.[66][66][67] After taking advice from the owners of Highbarn, a venue in Essex he'd often played at in the past, he had vocal coaching which helped increase his range and soften his sound.[68] He is known for his falsetto and being able to reach notes typically unusual for a male singer.[69][70][71][72] Upon Cardle winning The X Factor he has been involved in what type of music he would like to record, which led to the release of his debut album Letters. Cardle co-wrote eleven of the tracks which appeared on the album and a reviewer noted Cardle's "impressive falsetto".[73]

Influences

Cardle says he is influenced by everything he has ever listened to,[74] being a fan of a range of music "I love Dave Matthews and Rage Against the Machine are one of my favourite bands, but then again I also love Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, so kind of all sorts really. It's a pretty weird mix."[75] He cites "Thank U" by Alanis Morissette as the first song he was really inspired by and is a big fan of hers, he has covered this song on tour as well as another of her songs, "Uninvited".[76] Other artists Cardle has cited as favourites when he began singing include Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain, Pearl Jam and Peter Gabriel.[77]

While recording his debut album, Letters, Cardle took many different artists as an influence; reviews compared tracks to those by artists such as Snow Patrol, Coldplay as well as Chris Martin.[78]

Discography

Albums

Tours

Publications

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Cardle, Matt (2010). Matt Cardle: My Story. Harper. ISBN 978-0-00-742670-6.
  2. ↑ "X Factor winner Matt Cardle hailed by his Essex family". BBC News. 13 December 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  3. ↑ "When We Collide: Matt Cardle: Amazon.co.uk". Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  4. ↑ "Singles Chart For 25/12/2010". Chart Stats. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  5. ↑ TheOfficialCharts: Cardle at No 1 again - Eminem/Rihanna & Take That scoop 2010 crowns
  6. ↑ Official Charts Analysis: Gary Barlow tops Album and Singles lists | Music Week
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Matt Cardle chooses Absolute Marketing for independent release | Music Week
  8. ↑ "Matt Cardle - Live Booking Agent". Industrymusicgroup.co.uk. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  9. ↑ "My greatest victory wasn't The X Factor. It was beating kidney cancer when I was two: Matt Cardle on why he fights for thousands of children struck by a rare and deadly disease". Daily Mail (London).
  10. ↑ "Darwyn - Rock / Acoustic / Pop Band". Unsigned.com. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  11. ↑ Magrath, Andrea (18 November 2010). "Matt Cardle's pop past: X Factor favourite struggled to find fame with two bands before hitting the big time". The Daily Mail (London).
  12. ↑ UK. "Darwyn MySpace website". Myspace.com. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  13. ↑ Darwyn - Rock / Acoustic / Pop Band
  14. ↑ BBC - Essex - Entertainment - Darwyn
  15. ↑ Thompson, Nick (15 October 2010). "X-Factor star Matt Cardle had his singing voice saved five years ago". Dunmow Broadcast Recorder. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  16. ↑ Nina Morgan (8 October 2010). "I'd love to gig with X Factor favourite Matt Cardle again". Daily Gazette.
  17. ↑ Video of Matt Cardle and Ali McMillan performing covers.
  18. ↑ "X Factor's Matt Cardle's ex band Seven Summers climb charts". Metro.co.uk. 14 October 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  19. ↑ "Interview and performance by Seven Summers on Sue Merchant radio show on 8 December 2009". Youtube.com. 26 September 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  20. ↑ Music.co.uk: Seven Summers Album Review
  21. ↑ Video of Matt Cardle performing "Youngblood" with Seven Summers
  22. ↑ Video for Matt Cardle performing "Way to Be" with Seven Summers
  23. ↑ "X Factor: Check out Matt Cardle's band Seven Summers". Unreality Shout. 26 September 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  24. ↑ "Archive Chart". Theofficialcharts.com. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
  25. ↑ "Official UK Independent Album Charts". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  26. ↑ "Official UK Independent Album Breakers Charts". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  27. ↑ "X Factor favourite taking show in his stride". Halstead Gazette. 1 October 2010.
  28. ↑ Matt Cardle : Winner's Story (2010) - Part 1 - YouTube
  29. ↑ Matt Cardle odds-on favourite to win X Factor | Metro News
  30. ↑ "Odds on: Matt Cardle one of shortest backed favourites to win in one of tightest finals X Factor history". Daily Mail (London).
  31. ↑ Matt Cardle sings When Love Takes Over - The X Factor Live (Full Version) - YouTube
  32. ↑ XTRA FACTOR LIVE SHOW E19 P1 - YouTube
  33. ↑ Matt Cardle leaves judges in tears | The List
  34. ↑ Matt Cardle and Mary Byrne fall ill | The List
  35. ↑ Horsley, Jon (13 December 2010). "X Factor voting results revealed". Yahoo! Entertainment. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  36. ↑ "Rihanna crowned queen of the charts". Belfast Telegraph. Independent News and Media (Northern Ireland). 9 January 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  37. ↑ "Essex: Matt Cardle and Olly Murs in Brit Award battle". East Anglian Daily Times. Archant Regional. 14 January 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  38. ↑ "Official Charts Analysis: Gary Barlow tops Album and Singles lists". Music Week. 11 June 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  39. ↑ "Matt Cardle - Spin 103.8 - 31.7.13". 31 July 2013.
  40. ↑ Julia (24 July 2012). "Move over Harry Styles and Nick Grimshaw, Matt Cardle and Aiden Grimshaw are back! | the juice - Yahoo! omg! UK". Uk.omg.yahoo.com. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  41. ↑ Ingham, James (14 October 2012). "Simply The Best 7 Days A Week :: Rehab :: Matt Cardle reveals Dannii Minogue support". Daily Star. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  42. ↑ "Si Cardles up to Columbia". London: The Sun. 15 March 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  43. ↑ "Matt Cardle: 'Run For Your Life' - Single review - X Factor Singles Review - Music". Digital Spy. 22 September 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  44. ↑ "Oh No They Didn't! - Matt Cardle announces new single + album + UK tour". Ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com. 11 September 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  45. ↑ "Radio 1 - Chart - The Official UK Top 40 Singles Chart". BBC. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  46. ↑ Corner, Lewis (25 November 2011). "Matt Cardle: 'Starlight' - Single review - Music Singles Review". Digital Spy. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  47. ↑ "Matt Cardle’s ‘Starlight’ video: That’s more like it…". Trash Lounge. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  48. ↑ "Starlight". PopLedge. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  49. ↑ "Twitter / matt_cardle_uk: @Michelle_Cardle my favourite". Twitter.com. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  50. ↑ "X Factor 2010 winner Matt Cardle: Goodbye Columbia Records, it's time to move on - now". Nowmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  51. ↑ Corner, Lewis (3 October 2012). "Matt Cardle: 'I left Sony because I wasn't a priority'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  52. ↑ "Matt Cardle - BBC Three Counties Radio - 23.10.13". 8736loll. 24 October 2013.
  53. ↑ "Matt Cardle: ‘My new album is more honest’". The Linc. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  54. ↑ "Matt Cardle – ‘Unplugged’ Tour". Matt Cardle Music. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  55. ↑ "Matt Cardle: Unplugged SOLD OUT". Oran Mor. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  56. ↑ "Thank you!". 16 April 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  57. ↑ Matt Cardle - New Album 2013 (Exclusive Signed Copies) - TM Stores
  58. ↑ Listen to Matt Cardle & Melanie C's Loving You - Entertainment Focus | Entertainment Focus
  59. ↑ "About". Matt Cardle Music. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  60. ↑ "Worldwide publishing deal with BMG Chrysalis". 8 October 2013. Twitter. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  61. ↑ "MATT CARDLE: The FULL Mercury interview (From Bridgwater Mercury)". Bridgwatermercury.co.uk. 2014-02-25. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  62. ↑ "The Cast Of Miss World 2013". 22 August 2013. Miss World Official Website. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  63. ↑ "THE PORCELAIN TOUR 2014". 30 October 2013.
  64. ↑ "Matt Cardle - Good Morning Britain - 29.8.14". 29 August 2014.
  65. ↑ "Matt Cardle Live Vocal Range: B2-F5". YouTube. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  66. ↑ 66.0 66.1 Duerden, Nick (9 October 2011). "Exclusive: X Factor winner Matt Cardle gives his first major interview". The Independent (London).
  67. ↑ Matt Cardle - Biography
  68. ↑ "X-Factor star Matt Cardle had his singing voice saved five years ago - Home". Dunmow Broadcast. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  69. ↑ "Matt Cardle sings Just The Way You Are - The X Factor Live show 2 (Full Version)". YouTube. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  70. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Matt Cardle". Itunes.apple.com. 15 April 1983. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  71. ↑ "X Factor 2010: Cheryl Cole says Matt Cardle had a bad week with Bleeding Love (VIDEO)". Unreality TV. 30 October 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  72. ↑ "Matt and Marlon - The X Factor Final 12 Revealed (Full Version)". YouTube. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  73. ↑ "This week's album reviews". Irish Independent.
  74. ↑
  75. ↑ X Factor's Matt Cardle Wants To Work With Katy Perry! | The X Factor | News | MTV UK
  76. ↑ Matt Cardle Performing Thank You - Manchester - 29 April 2013 - YouTube
  77. ↑ "Matt Cardle: Amelia Lily has got what it takes to win X Factor". Metro. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  78. ↑ Smart, Gordon (18 August 2011). "Matt Cardle debut tunes totally rock". London: The Sun. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  79. ↑ Roche, Elisa (14 December 2010). "Now X factor's Matt Cardle will top book charts". The Daily Express. Retrieved 14 December 2010.

External links

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Preceded by
Joe McElderry		 Winner of The X Factor
2010 		Succeeded by
Little Mix