Lisa Stansfield: Young musicians have no restrictions

Lisa Stansfield believes there is "no excuse" for aspiring musicians not to succeed.
The 53-year-old singer is envious about the opportunities modern technology has afforded current artists as they are able to record music or make videos so much cheaply than in her own pop hey day.
She said: "There’s more opportunity for people now, more than ever, if they have a brain and have the nous to do it. If people are capable of doing it nothing is holding them back- there’s no excuse really because people have everything at their fingertips.
"Things we’d have to go out of our way to get, now you can get any instrument you want on Garage Band it’s unbelievable! I must sound like really old person now! You can make a whole album on your telephone, you can make an amazing video too!
"You’ve got 35 mm quality on your phone now – even 20 years ago that would have cost you about a million quid. To be able to do everything you can now do on your phone would have cost an absolute fortune- it gives people so much opportunity.
"People who don’t have a lot of money have got that opportunity and it’s beautiful that they have. People who really want to do it can do it."
But as well as technology, Lisa thinks self-belief is also essential in order to succeed.
She added: "It’s not just having that equipment, it’s having the balls and the wherewithal to do it. You have to say no to a lot of people and when a lot of people are telling you what you’re doing is a bit rubbish you just have to have the courage to say ‘no it isn’t’ and believe in it."
However, she does worry a lot of people sacrifice their artistic freedom by spreading themselves too thinly.
She exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "I do admire a lot of artists now who are completely multi-faceted- they’re doing seven different jobs all at once and it doesn’t seem to faze them whatsoever. It just astonishes me completely and I have nothing but admiration for them.
"But it’s really hard to do that and be an artist- as you’re not really being an artist- you’re being someone who works for an artist and the artist as well. You can’t have artistic freedom if you have to think about seven different aspects of your own job all the time. It must be very, very exhausting."