Music: Passenger
Jeff Hemmings chats to Passenger’s Mike Rosenberg
In this quickly evolving musical world, fickleness can work to your advantage. Robbie William’s management company threw tens, possibly hundreds of thousands at Passenger, in developing this Brighton-based band led by singer songwriter Mike Rosenberg. But despite the obvious qualities of Rosenberg; his evocative, highly expressive voice, his ability to write melodious and perfectly crafted pop-like songs, it didn’t quite happen. The band split, Rosenberg went off to to do his own thing whilst still using the Passenger moniker, which largely involved traveling the world, becoming a troubadour in effect, and developing his audiences the old fashioned way…
Australia became a second home for him, and it was there that he developed a large fanbase, often by just busking solo. “After our first record, ‘Wicked Man’s Rest’, everything has been funded from busking,” says Mike. “It’s obviously a great way to get money together, but it’s also the reason the fan base has grown. There’s not some massive machine behind this. I’m a guy playing on the street and funding my art in my own way. In the days of X-Factor, that seems to strike a chord with people. I put all of my head and heart into this album.”
His most recent album, All The Little Light, was named iTunes singer-songwriter album of the year, and reached number nine in the Australian charts. And he got to tour and perform with Ed Sheeran, both here in the UK and in the USA. Sheeran of course, has become hugely successful, almost from the get-go; a case of all the pieces falling into place at exactly the right times. Passenger has the same talent, albeit a little less ‘urban’ and street cred than Sheeran’s, but his experiences of touring with this unlikeliest of pop stars has helped to catapult him to where he was aiming to be back in the mid part of the last decade…
This UK tour show sold out almost instantly. As I said, fickleness can be a friend too…
Passenger, Concorde 2, Wednesday 30 January, 7pm, £9
