After a year without in-person events, Sasha Keable treats fans to a debut live performance of her new song Exception from inside Chelsea FC’s stadium.

 2020 was a hard year for everyone.  An international pandemic brought life as we knew it to a screeching halt. Live events were put on hold. For over a year athletic venues and concert halls remained empty. For London-based singer–songwriter and lifelong Chelsea FC supporter Sasha Keable, this was a loss on both fronts. Now, with the help of COPA90, her interests have collided. As part of ‘Chelsea Creates’ Sasha was able to perform a new track from her much anticipated EP live at Stamford Bridge.

We chat to Sasha about her collaboration with Chelsea Football Club and COPA90, how it was performing her track Exception at Stamford Bridge and what we can expect from her upcoming projects.

We absolutely loved that performance of Exception with the amazing backdrop of Chelsea Football Club’s Stamford Bridge stadium. It’s not every day you get to sing at the home of the football club you love, what was your immediate reaction when you were approached?

My immediate reaction was shock, I felt really lucky to be approached. It was definitely a bit intimidating, but I was so excited to perform there.

This performance came about as part of the ‘Chelsea Creates’ collaboration between Chelsea Football Club and COPA90, showcasing the most exciting young creative talent in London across the worlds of music, art and design. How does it feel knowing your club are supporting young creatives like yourself?

I think it’s really great because I haven’t really seen many football clubs collaborate with young creatives in the way that Chelsea are doing right now. It feels great to be on my team’s radar as well as a young creative that they respect, so it is really exciting and also I just think that any collaboration between two quite different worlds is something that’s quite beautiful.

Why do you think London is such a hub for emerging creative talent? How does this support from Chelsea Football Club and COPA90 provide a much-needed platform for some of this amazing talent to be displayed?

I think that London is a hub for creative talent just because it is so diverse and there are so many different pockets of people and experiences, and I just think that lends itself really well to people creating amazing stuff. I think that the support from Chelsea and COPA90 also goes along way especially from such massive platforms, it really does help emerging talent and gives a new audience who maybe wouldn’t usually see your work because it is obviously a more football led audience. I’ve definitely noticed more people who wouldn’t have necessarily seen my work now reaching out and becoming fans and that’s a great thing to see.

Tell us more about Exception. What does the song mean to you? As a lifelong Chelsea fan does it mean even more to perform it in a setting so close to your heart?

Exception definitely means a lot to me. It was written during a break up and from a bit of a naïve perspective just because I thought me and the person would end up getting back together and that never happened. But it definitely meant even more to sing it at Chelsea. Although I think I could have sung “wheels on the bus go round and round” and it still would have meant a lot to sing it in that environment.

Exception is the flagship single from an exciting project you have in the pipeline for 2021. Can you tell us anymore about this?

Yes, a project is coming and it is going to be very very very very sick. It’s going to be really exciting and I can’t wait for it to come out. That’s all I’ll say for now!

How would you say this new project differs from your previous releases?

I think that maybe I’ve grown a bit more, but I don’t really know just yet. I think it’s hard to reflect until fans start to listen to it and I hear it from their perspective, because I can be a bit rubbish at hearing the differences when I’m so in the middle of it. But I definitely think I’m being more honest in this one, more blunt and there is more growth in there.

You have collaborated and supported various artists in the past, including the likes of Common, Disclosure and Katy B. What surprises can you reveal on your upcoming project?

I can’t reveal the surprises just yet, but just know that they are very exciting!

On that note, if I could grant you three dream artists to collaborate with in the future, who would you choose and why?

I would have to say Pharrell, Daniel Cesar and maybe someone like Stevie Wonder. Pharrell just because he’s amazing and would obviously produce the best tune ever, Daniel Cesar because I love his voice and I just love him, and Stevie Wonder… well because it’s Stevie Wonder.

We seem to be slowly getting back to normal life, with lockdown having stopped live shows for quite a while now. How much are you looking forward to performing to crowds again, and have you got any live shows we should look out for?

I cannot wait to perform live again, I cannot even begin to explain how much I miss it. Just even knowing that something’s in the pipeline is such a great feeling. Right now I can’t reveal too much, but a few festivals have been booked so that will all be on my social media, and if everything goes to plan there’ll be a lot to keep an eye out for at the end of this year!

What does the future hold for Sasha Keable and what can your fans look forward to?

Hopefully more live shows! And definitely this project this year. That will take up a lot of the year and I can’t wait to just have some more music out. It’s going to be really fun.

Finally, name your all time Chelsea XI and manager. Who would they face in the UEFA Champions League Final and what would the score be?

The Carlo Ancelotti team of 2009-2010 will always hold a special place in my heart because of my step-dad’s relationship to that team when he worked with them, so I’ll just take that whole XI. But we don’t need to dream of a fantasy Champions League final now! So I’ll take this current Chelsea team and I’ll say that we are going to win it 1-0 against Man City!

‘Exception’ is out now, follow Sasha via @sashakeable.

For more info on the ‘Chelsea Creates’ series click here

Intro by Sydney Bolen