He is one of the biggest names in the UK and Ireland and is heading out on his biggest tour yet. Maverick Sabre is stopping off in the Royal Theatre this Sunday night. Sabre whose blend of R&B, soul, hip-hop, and reggae has seen him climb from obscurity to the top reaches of the charts in just a few years, took time out from his preparations for his tour to talk to the Mayo Advertiser last week.
“It’s going to be a busy summer, really looking forward to it and just getting out there on the road again. It’s great that I’m getting to go back to play in New Ross then on to Castlebar in the Royal Theatre of course. It’s nice to get back among the Irish crowds.” Sabre was born in London before he moved to New Ross in Wexford with his family when he was young, before heading back to London to forge his music career. What genre of music that Sabre fits into can be hard to pin down and he’s happy to turn his hand to any genre. “It’s nice that I can do the cross overs, I’m full out touring for the summer and some of the ones I’m really looking forward to are the jazz festivals in mainland Europe and Scandinavia that I’m booked to perform at with the likes of Norah Jones, it’s going to be good fun. But it’s cool the way I get to play to crowds at jazz festivals, folk festivals, and the more pop ones. I suppose it’s because I’ve been influenced by so many different types of music and that my style can have such broad appeal. I’m constantly listening to all different types of music and not just stuck to one.”
Hard work and graft to get to the top
Since moving back to London, Sabre has been busy crafting his art and it has been non-stop since he landed back in the UK. “It’s been a hectic three years, sometimes I think I’ve aged five years in the last two months. But it’s always something that I’ve wanted to do and I’ve enjoyed ever moment of it. I finished up school at 16 in New Ross and went working to make some money so I could get back to London, and do this. You work hard at it, but you don’t mind because you love it. I’d say getting to play on Jools Holland was an early highlight of the whole trip. One thing that does stand out for me was that I played the Roundhouse in London a while ago, it’s a great venue. I had played there in a room downstairs about two years before to maybe a hundred people. This time, I was playing the main venue and I got the camera guy I’d with me to go up on the roof and he filmed the crowd of about 3,000 people who were queuing around the block to get into see me. It’s one of those things that you sit back and go wow, it’s a nice movement.”
Constantly working to develop his own style
Sabre’s distinctive vocal style is something that has set him apart from other acts, but it is a style that has taken a lot of work to develop, according to Sabre. “Yeah, my voice has been something I’ve developed over the past few years. It’s something that has changed completely since I was 16 or so. It’s something that I’ve worked on as I’ve tried to sing in different styles and hit different notes, it’s like anything that you’ve got to work on. Yeah taking care of it is something that I will have to work on a bit better, because I’m not going to be 21 forever.” Sabre will be taking to the stage in the Royal Theatre on Sunday evening and he is looking forward to getting in front of the Irish crowd. “I always try to have the Irish dates at either the start or the end of the tour, either to give you a good lift as you head off on tour or a great homecoming that you need at the end. I’m really looking forward to it and to seeing everyone Castlebar.”
