Bruce Fielder, professionally known as Sigala, has been the go-to guy for party anthems for the past eight years.
Since emerging on the scene in 2015 with his No. 1 smash “Easy Love,” the Norfolk-born hitmaker has continuously racked up the bangers and released major collaborations with the likes of Kylie Minogue, Becky Hill, Paloma Faith, Nile Rodgers, and Craig David, to name a few.
To date, Sigala has achieved 8 UK top 10 singles, 7 global platinum singles, 7 million record sales in the UK alone and 22 million globally, 4 billion streams, and over 1 billion video views. Hoping to expand on those major figures, he has dropped a track with fellow British musicians Mae Muller, Caity Baser, and Stefflon Don on the single “Feels This Good,” which is taken from his second studio album, Every Cloud, that will be released later this year in September.
In our new interview with Sigala, we learn more about his upcoming LP, what he looks for in artists when collaborating, and his standout live performance.
You are releasing your second studio album later this year in September. How are you feeling about that?
I’m excited. Obviously, it’s nerve-wracking ‘cause you hear horror stories about second albums, it’s this kind of do or die, but I don’t think there’s that much pressure because it’s not my main focus really. My focus is the singles and the pop tunes and it’s got a bunch of them on anyway there anyway. It has all the stuff I’ve done over the last three years back to “Wish You Well” with Becky Hill, that’s probably the oldest one. There are loads on there that hopefully people will know and then there are the unknown tracks that are all good, fun Sigala pop tunes.
Your debut album was titled Brighter Days and now the second one is called Every Cloud. They both have positive meanings but this new title feels more optimistic. What inspired it?
It’s just a shortening of the phrase, every cloud has a silver lining. It is basically the same ethos as the first album, which is that I’ve always wanted to make music that can help people sort of overcome things and be alive. I want people to put on my music if they’re having a bad day and hopefully it will lighten their mood and things like that. That’s always been the underlining theme of all my music and both of the albums as well.
With some songs dating back to a few years ago, when was the album fully locked in and completed?
It was just before Christmas, I think November. It was hectic because there are loads of features and collabs on the album, which is kind of exactly as I wanted it to be, but some of the songs I wrote like two years ago and then people’s paths have changed and suddenly they were like, “Oh, I’m not really doing this kind of stuff anymore.” There are so many things that have to align to pull off these collabs. most of ’em were fine, but there was a couple that we had to find alternative collaborators which were literally within probably a week of our deadline. So, it was a sleepless week [laughs]. We pulled it off and on one of the songs that someone pulled out of, they did a pitch-down vocal thing with their voice and I was like, “I could probably just do it myself.” So, I ended up recording it myself. So there’s one song that I’m actually singing on the album, which is something I’ve never done before. So, we’ll see how that goes down.
Was there a particular that was a big challenge to complete?
Probably the one that’s the next single because there’s so much more pressure on those ones. The ones that are album tracks, they’re almost a bit more fun because there are no expectations for them, so I can be a bit more creative with them and there’s less pressure on them to be a radio smash. So with the next single, there was that pressure. There were countless versions and different productions and we literally got one to complete the end of the line and had it mastered and ready to go. I wasn’t happy with it and I basically started again, which is something I’ve done with a lot of my songs that have done really well, so it doesn’t really scare me doing that. The next one is called “Feels This Good,” it’s a great tune. It’s an upbeat pop song with influences from the cooler, early 2000s dance music. Daft Punk, that sort of thing.
What is it you look for in artists when choosing to collaborate with them?
It’s mostly just about their voice, to be honest. I’m not worried if they have a massive following or not. It’s about their voice and if it’s gonna suit something that I would do and then what else they bring to the table. I love working with singers that have their music in a slightly different genre and I can almost borrow things from their musical genre and create something new and exciting. That’s something that I’ve really enjoyed doing. They’re probably the two main things.
You’ve had a lot of hits, which means you have a lot of plaques. Do you have them all on display at home?
No, I don’t have any plaques at home. They’re all in my studio. It’s lovely and it’s inspiring to have that stuff on display when you’re making music because it’s almost like a bit of a confidence boost. I think every artist second guesses themselves on a daily basis and with probably everything they make, so when I feel like that I can go outside and look at the wall and be like, “I can trust my gut and my judgment.” I’ve done it before, so I think it’s nice to have that. And then when I’m at home, I don’t wanna think about any of that stuff. I just wanna chill out and play War Zone.
You have performed many live shows at a lot of prestigious venues over the years. What has been a standout moment?
Probably one that I’ve enjoyed the most in the last sort of year was probably the Capital Summertime Ball. Up until that point, I’d been working really closely with an MC and a hype man. I used to really lean on him in terms of providing a performance to the crowd and he would do all the talking and basically orchestrate the crowd and get ’em involved and stuff like that. I’ve always been really nervous about doing that ’cause I don’t feel like I’m that great of a performer in that term.
The Summertime Ball was one of the first big shows that I’d done on my own where I’d been on that stage alone with the microphone and at the end of the show or even midway through the show, I remember just thinking to myself, “Oh my God, I’m actually doing this.” The connection you feel directly with the crowd is just so much more intense and incredible than if I was when I was hiding behind other people on the stage. Although it was probably a bit of an easier ride, I remember coming off stage and just being like, wow, like I feel like I’ve really achieved something. I’ve been doing this for a long time and I’m always setting myself new goals of things I wanna do, and I think that’s really important as well. That was one that I managed to tick off the list.
Do you have any goals for 2023? I know you’re going to be busy touring this year.
I’m touring the UK for a month and then after America for a little bit. That’s the goal, I guess, but that’s already sort of all in place. I guess the next thing I haven’t really worked out is what I want to do next in terms of music. it’s in the same vein, but it’s really focusing on one thing. I haven’t really liked spoken about it yet because I don’t want someone to steal my idea but I’m basically working on album number three this year and it’s really exciting.