Producer, TV talent show judge and member of The Black Eye Peas, will.i.am is one of the most respected and successful collaborators around, but now he's embarking on his first ever solo UK tour. The enigmatic star talks (a little bit) to Andy Welch.

 

Whatever will.i.am does, he doesn't normally do it on his own.

As one of The Black Eyed Peas, he's been flanked by the more prominent Fergie and the other two whose names escape most people (Taboo and apl.de.ap).

As a judge on The Voice, a position he's held since it first came to the UK from the US in 2012, he sat alongside Tom Jones, Jessie J and Danny O'Donoghue from The Script.

Even as a solo artist he's regularly joined by the likes of Cheryl Cole (whom he manages), Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Britney Spears or Snoop Dogg, meaning he's never truly on his own.

And as a producer he's been happy to pull the strings from the background for everyone from Michael Jackson and Carlos Santana to Diddy, U2 and Mariah Carey.

So with a career as a consistent collaborator in mind, his solo tour in December is something of a big deal.

"All this time in music and this is the first tour I've done by myself," says the 38-year-old. "I'm nervous and it's going to be emotional.

"In a group like Black Eyed Peas, people show up to see us and I share that experience with the rest of the people in the band. This time people are paying money to come and see me perform.

"I'm not opening up for anyone, it's not a festival where I'm sharing the stage or arena with other people, so for me this is very emotional.

"It's another thing I've accomplished, when I didn't know there was anything left to accomplish."

Talking to will.i.am is a slightly strange experience. On more than one occasion during our conversation he gets up almost mid-word, walks off without explanation and returns a minute or two later, excusing himself and carrying on exactly where he was.

O'Donoghue has talked of will.i.am's spontaneous nature, how he'll suddenly have an idea for a song and start recording it wherever he is, while Robin Thicke recently said that Will isn't the easiest person to get on with, due to his eccentricity. He also said, however, that he thinks he's a genius.

"I never saw the need," says the star, asked why it's taken him until now to do a solo tour, and until the release of his fourth album, #willpower, to play live. "I just wanted to tour with the Peas," he adds casually.

He won't be drawn on what guests can be expected, although he promises there'll be some surprises at the concerts. "It'll be unique, let's leave it at that."

Asked whether he feels pressure when delivering songs that sound so big on the radio, he simply says "No". He's just as precise when discussing how long the tour's taken to plan. "June" is his one-word answer.

"The tour's going to feature songs people will know, bits and pieces from my songs, songs I've written and worked on, songs out there in culture, all transitioned into a journey, like a tapestry," he expands.

And he's taking charge of every aspect of the process. "It's me, all me, I'm all over everything. I usually come up with the ideas."

If he's cagey about the tour, he's positively mute when it comes to The Voice. At the time of our interview, he hadn't signed up to appear on the third series, and Jessie J and O'Donoghue had announced they wouldn't be returning.

When the show's future looked in doubt, Kylie Minogue and the Kaiser Chiefs' Ricky Wilson were added to the judging panel and will.i.am and Tom Jones eventually signed on the dotted line to return, so the show might just yet become the essential viewing it desperately wants to be.

Nevertheless, will.i.am wouldn't comment, although he will talk about series two runner-up Leah McFall.

"I'm working on her album, finishing that, and things are great," he says, finally animated. "I'm producing and writing it. I want to make it all about Leah. I'm really excited about her album. It's the same way I produce a Black Eyed Peas or Fergie album, it's getting that level of attention to detail.

"I'm working as hard on it as I have done on all the other projects I'm most passionate about. I haven't done that before with someone I've just met."

It was McFall's raw talent that drew him in, and she was the reason he took the second series more seriously than the first.

"Just turning off and stopping after that camera stops rolling is not the way to do it. I learned a lot the first year," he admits.

"The second year I didn't want to do that again, you know, like 'Nice knowing you guys, see ya...'. Why would you do that? You can't give someone advice on their career when people are watching and then go home as soon as the show finishes. That person is left wondering what they're supposed to do with their passion.

"Last year, I made some tough decisions, getting rid of people on the show, but that's because I was so focused on Leah. Since the beginning, I knew it was her I wanted to work with. I know that's wrong, but unfortunately that's just the format."

Meanwhile, he's been finishing Britney Spears's forthcoming album ("It's pretty freakin' awesome. I'm blown away. I can't believe how good it is"), and working with a singer called Cody Wise.

He's itching to work with Cheryl Cole again, thinks she should do "something no one expects", and lists Prince as the artist he'd most like to work with next.

"I can't think about that anyway," he says. "I'm giving the tour my all. I remember when I Got A Feeling exploded, and the Peas had a meeting about putting on a really big show. We wanted to tear the roof down with energy, and we thought the best way of doing that was improvising, because that has the most energy. You can't rehearse improvisation.

"Then in 2009, we wanted to do a big spectacle with lights and choreography, the whole thing and it was all really thought out. We had been doing it for eight years without rehearsing, then we had to rehearse all the time. That's when we got really good.

"Now it's full circle, and I'm touring on my own which is something I never thought I'd get to do. I can't do what I did with the Peas, because that was a group, and I can't do it like we did before, with improv, so I've thought of something that's different again.

"I've thought of the show as a unique object, and it's a separating factor. It's going to be what separates me from everyone else."


Extra time - Will.i.am

:: will.i.am was born William James Adams on March 15, 1975, in Los Angeles. He didn't know his father and was raised by his mother, Debra.

:: He first began performing while still at school and was discovered and signed to a label by rapper Eazy-E in 1992. The Black Eyed Peas formed in 1995.

:: As part of the band, he's won seven Grammy Awards and overall, including with the band, his work as a producer and solo artist, he's collaborated on 34 Top 40 singles in the UK.

:: He released his first solo album Lost Change in 2001.

:: He has his own fashion line, i.am, and has designed various gadgets including a camera attachment for the iPhone which improves picture quality.


Tour Dates

December:

3 - Manchester Phones 4u Arena

4 - Birmingham LG Arena

5 - London O2 Arena

 

:: will.i.am begins his UK tour on December 3. Full dates below. His fourth solo album #willpower is out now