Blue is an English band consisting of members Antony Costa, Duncan James, Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe. The band formed in 2000 and released three studio albums before before announcing a hiatus In late 2004. In January 2011 the group reformed and represented the United Kingdom at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf with the song “I Can”. Blue have sold 15 million records worldwide. According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), Blue has been certified for 3.6 million albums and 1.6 million singles in the UK
The phenomenal band broke across English borders from their very first single, “All Rise”, and continued to grow their fanbase throughout the 00’s with smash-hits such as: “Too Close”, ” If You Come Back”, “Fly By II”, “Best in Me”, “One Love”, “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” (with Elton John), “Breathe Easy” etc. Their last studio album was 2015’s “Colours” and a while ago they announced their discographical comeback with the release of a brand new single, “Haven’t Found You Yet” which comes after seven long years.
On the occasion of their big comeback, we spoke with the Greek-Cypriot singer of Blue, Antony Costa, literally about everything… their new music, Blue’s future plans, the highlights of their career, etc. Who is the Greek singer that Antony is discussing a possible future collaboration with? What is his relationship with Cyprus now and how does he feel about his origins? Find out everything you need to know in the interview below.
Hello Anthony and welcome to SounDarts.gr. What have you been up to lately?
The last couple of weeks we’ve been promoting our new single “Haven’t Found You Yet”. It is part of our new album, which is coming out in September, so we’re doing some press, tv and some shows and at the moment is going really really well.
Since you mention it, what’s the story behind the writing of Blue’s latest single “Haven’t Found You Yet”?
The story relates to anyone really. I wrote the song and it’s not about something I’ve been through. It’s just a song that anyone can relate to, if they haven’t found their loved one or their partner yet. It’s just a generic, uplifting, up tempo Blue song, that I just wrote and I thought that I was in a good place to do and luckily for me it’s our first single.
Your forthcoming album “Heart & Soul”, is going to be released in September. What should we expect from this release?
It’s a good, uplifting Blue album and if the fans go back to the first three albums of the band, then they can see what this album is all about. It’s “Blue 2022” with a lot of ballads, some mid-tempos and a lot of up-tempos as well. It’s a really good album and I’m very proud of what we’ve done.
Are there going to be any other single-releases before the release of the album?
Yes we’ve got a new promotional single coming out tomorrow which is going straight to streaming, called “Dance With Me”. It’s a cover of us of a band called 112 and the second single will be the one with the same name as the album “Heart & Soul”, which is coming out in August.
For this single and album you’ve collaborated once again with Hugh Goldsmith, who was the man that got Blue started back in the ‘00s. How was your collaboration this time?
It was brilliant! It was nice to go back to someone that knows us really really well and knows where we are musically or as writers. Hugh knows us for 22 years and it’s wonderful for us to have him as part of the process for this album.
According to you, which do you believe to be the highlights of your career with the band so far?
I think for me it was when we won our first Brit Award in 2002. We got talked by a record company who invited us which was an amazing honor. We knew that we were nominated and that’s why we got invited, and when we went there and they announced us as the winners we were like “Holy sh@t! This is amazing!”. We never thought in a million years we would win. That holds a special place in my heart for sure.
Blue represented the United Kingdom at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf with the song “I Can”. How do you recall this experience? Is it something that you would like to do again?
I wouldn’t do it again! Enough! Haha! We’ve done it, we had a good time, we represented the U.K. but I think for us we’re 10 years down the line, and it was a good opportunity to show to people that Blue are back but I think that’s it now, we can put Eurovision to bed. We are very proud, don’t get me wrong but we wouldn’t go back there again.
Is there any other band in the music industry right now that excites you?
I think music always changes. I don’t really listen to a lot of music personally and I don’t know who’s out there, who’s done this or that. I know there are singers like Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, Adele etc . but there are no bands that have blown me away. There’s nothing that excites me.
You are of greek-cypriot origins. Do you visit often Greece and Cyprus?
I go to Cyprus all the time. I’m actually booking a holiday now, I just spoke to my travel agent, to Diana from travel mania, and she’s very good. I spoke to her today and I’m going to Protara, near Agia Napa at the end of July. I’ve never been in Greece which is mad. I want to go to Athena or Rhodes and just see the mainland of Greece.
What is the Cypriot thing or element that you miss the most or that makes you proud of your origins?
I’m very proud of everything. I’m proud to be Cypriot. I think you have to be proud of where you’re from. That’s why I go back to Cyprus a lot because that’s the place where my dad was born, where my yiayia (grandmother), my pappou (grandfather) and my cousins live. It’s a fantastic country to be a part of and I love visiting that country so much.
If you had the chance to collaborate with an artists who would it be?
Unfortunately this man died, 6 years ago and that was George Michael! That was my hero! Being Greek – Cypriot as well. But if I had the chance to collaborate with someone now it would be Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles or someone like a famous DJ, like Calvin Harris. It would be quiet cool if we got Blue mixing it up with Calvin Harris.
Do you know any Greek artists that you admire or that you would like to collaborate with in the future?
There’s a singer called Stan that I speak to quiet often. We’d love to do a Greek-English song, that we’ve always spoken about. He’s a wicked singer! I love Stan’s voice! So Stan if you’re reading this. Let’s do this! Let’s go!
Any other Greek artists?
I don’t know from where to start. I grew up with my pappou and my father listening to Kazantzidis. What a voice! Mitropanos, Remos, Vissi of course, Sakis Rouvas but I love Sfakianakis’ voice. I think he’s amazing!
What are your next professional plans?
At the moment we’re going to embark our first U.K. tour in seven years within a year, so we’re pre-planning a lot of that. We got some festivals, over to some period, and it happens to be working. It makes us really happy to be given a second chance. We’re really excited to see where this next Blue path takes us.
What’s your motto in life?
