There is gratitude but also perhaps a hint of relief when British singer Nathan Sykes talks about his time with boy band The Wanted and their split in 2014.
Having joined the band at the age of 16, he feels he was not taken seriously, being the youngest member of the band.
“It was frustrating back then but that helped my drive to succeed,” says Sykes, who is now 23.
With the release of his solo debut album Unfinished Business last year, the singer finally had a chance shine in his own light.
He makes a return to Dubai Jazz Festival on Friday, February 24, where he will support Enrique Iglesias.
He was last here in 2014 when The Wanted performed at the festival but Sykes says his singer-songwriter set will be markedly different to his former band’s energetic boy-band tunes.
The Wanted broke up shortly after the Dubai performance. What happened?
We felt it was the right time. All of us had different priorities. Mine was very much music, so that’s why you see I’m still doing it. The others were older so they wanted to settle down. I decided to go into the studio by myself and see what would happen and it has turned out great.
The result was the album Unfinished Business. What kind of goal were you going for with your solo debut?
From the start I knew it would sound nothing like The Wanted. The Wanted was a collective process and I wanted this to have my individuality. I looked at who I was and what I liked to listen to. I like to listen to a lot of jazz and blues, soul, but also pop music and R& B. I took inspiration from all those genres to create my own sound. It was when I wrote More Than You’ll Ever Know, which I will perform in Dubai, a bluesy soulful song, that was when I realised who I am. That then inspired the rest of the album.
In 2013, you suffered from vocal haemorrhage. How tough was that, in terms of recovery?
The problem was my reluctance to cancel anything. I’m one of the hardes-working people you will come across. So when I had the flu back then, I continued working every single night and ended up damaging my vocal chords. But I believe everything happens for a reason. That was a warning and it helped me take extra care of my voice and refocus on the technique and control and with that, my voice has gotten better.
The Wanted began before One Direction. Then they came along to grab all the attention. Did that annoy your band?
To be fair, there was absolutely no competition between us. They got so big so fast, and so any comparison was only media fuelled. I’ve got a lot of respect for One Direction. What they have achieved is phenomenal – and on a personal level, they are wonderful too.
There will be plenty of people seeing you for the first time on Friday. What kind show should they expect?
I will be doing songs from my debut album Unfinished Business – Famous, Over and Over Again, Give It Up, Kiss Me Quick – and there will also be a few surprise covers. I’m going to strip back the performance, do an acoustic gig and spend a lot of time at the piano. I am on before Enrique Iglesias, so in that slot it is quite fitting to do an acoustic set and really make people focus on my voice and the lyrics.
Nathan Sykes will perform at the Dubai Jazz Festival on Friday, February 24. The one-hour set is due to begin at 8.30pm. Tickets start from Dh395. Visit visit www.dubaijazzfest.com for more details.
aahmed@thenational.ae
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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FOOTBALL TEST
Team X 1 Team Y 0
Scorers
Red card
Man of the Match
The%20specs%3A%202024%20Mercedes%20E200
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Results
Stage 4
1. Dylan Groenewegen (NED) Jumbo-Visma 04:16:13
2. Gaviria (COL) UAE Team Emirates
3. Pascal Ackermann (GER) Bora-Hansgrohe
4. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal
General Classification:
1. Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 16:46:15
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:07
3. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team 0:01:35
4. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:40
5. Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
