INTERVIEW - Frankie Sandford from The Saturdays

Hiya Frankie!

Hi!

Your new album Wordshaker has just come out - I was wondering, to kick things off, in what ways do you think it’s different from your first album?

Well... I hate it when bands say ‘oh, we’ve grown up’, but I think it is a little bit of an older sound.  You can still tell it’s us, but whereas before we were kind of ‘becoming’ the Saturdays, now we are them, and we know what kind of sound we want.   I think you can kind of tell that from the album – what we’re all about. All the songs are like a bigger sound, bigger choruses, catchy.  We’re really happy with it.

You do a lot of stuff for your fans in terms of signings, competitions and videos on your website.  Do you think it’s important to stay in touch with the fans like that?

Definitely!  From when we first started out, I think that’s kind of been one of the main reasons for how successful we’ve been.  People actually know who we are and fans feel like they can actually talk to us.  Especially nowadays with everything being internet based, it’s really important to keep that up.  It’s nice for fans as they feel like they get to talk to us, and it’s nice for us as well as we get to see what they think.

According to your press release, you’ve possibly got your eyes on international success, is that something which is important to you as a band, aiming for other markets?

Yes, definitely.  We’ve always wanted to do really well and try and aim to be as good as we can. For us, we really want to make sure we make our mark on the UK because it’s where we’re all from.  But equally, it’s nice for a band to go international and do well.  We’ve always said from the start, world domination!  We hope eventually we’ll be as big as we are here in other countries.

So, what’s an average day as a member of The Saturdays like?  What do you usually get up to?

Every day is different!  If we’ve got a single out, it’s hectic – we’ll fit four TV shows in to one day.  It doesn’t sound like much, but those days can be quite long.  On a day like that that, it’s pretty mental - We’re always nagging to fit in lunchtime!  It’s good though, we like being busy.

Have you got used to coping with fame then?  Paparazzi and stuff like that.

We don’t really see ourselves as famous really. I can still walk down the street and no-one will notice me, so it’s quite nice I can kind of get the best of both worlds.  With the paparazzi we only really get it when we’re on a night out all together or when we’re at a gig or something.  They can be pretty hardcore and sometimes it can get a bit much, but they’re not following us home yet or anything so I don’t think we’ve got too much to complain about.

Now, the big question all the fans want to know – have you got a new tour lined up?

We’re not sure yet, we’re hoping maybe next year we’ll have a tour at some point.

They want a DVD of it too!

If we ever get to do an arena tour then we’ll probably do a DVD.  We want a DVD too, we want to be able to watch it!

So what bands/singers are you liking at the moment then?

I really like Kids In Glass Houses – And Paramore!  They’re my favourite band!

So you’re a bit of a rock chick then eh?

I guess so!  I went to see Green Day recently.  I’ve always liked them but never been to see them.  People we’re going mental about them and I went and watched them and they were amazing!

You’ve got your new single Ego coming out on December 14^th and you get a lot of Christmas songs re-entering the charts around that time - Do you have a favourite Christmas song?

I really like them all.  Mariah Carey is an obvious one I guess.  Aww, I love Christmas songs!

We’ve got Halloween coming up too! – What would be your ideal Halloween outfit for a party?

Well, it’s Vanessa’s birthday today, so we’re all going out for it tomorrow and its fancy dress and I haven’t got an outfit yet!

Mollie’s got her Baywatch outfit hasn’t she?

Yeah, she’s being Baywatch.  Me and Dougie were thinking of going as the twins from X Factor!  But I don’t know where I’m going to get a shiny red jacket from.

So, as this interview is for the student newspaper, say if you went to university, what kind of subject do you think you’d do?

Well, I was going to go to uni at one point and I was thinking of doing Music Management. I thought for myself it would be good to know what someone’s meant to be doing, and one day I’d quite like to be a manager... when nobody wants me anymore ha!

Now, students of course love their drink.  What’s your alcoholic drink of choice if you’re going out?

I’m a massive lightweight so I don’t really drink much, but I always have rosé with lemonade, that’s about it.  Or Baileys, but that’s not really a ‘night out’ drink.

So, you and all the girls use Twitter a lot.  What do you think is its main appeal?  Why has it got so big this year?

I think it’s because it’s kind of like an instant update on what your favourite people are doing.  I follow Hayley Williams from Paramore and I mainly read hers.  I mean, it’s weird... why do you really want to know what they’re doing? - It’s quite interesting in a way!  But I’m not really sure quite what it is about it, haven’t figured it out yet ha!

Last year you and the girls had a guest role in Hollyoaks Later, can you see any other acting roles coming up?

I dunno... I hope not!  I mean, i’m not an actress, i’m in a band, and there’s a reason for that.  I find it quite embarrassing.  It’s bad enough doing a video and having to repeat yourself, but having to say your lines 20 times is a bit of a killer.

This is a bit of a random one!  If you could date any female celeb, who would it be?

Megan Fox!  And Angelina Jolie – don’t even have to think about it!

For me it’d be Cheryl Cole every time.

Aww, you gotta love Chezza!

Do you get tempted by fast food a lot? When you’re out on the road and stuff I’m guessing you do.

Oh yes!  It’s terrible!  I love a takeaway.  McDonald’s is like one of those things, you really fancy it and then you have it and you feel like absolute crap.  It’s not cool.  But I do love fast food.

If you’re going out with your mates, what would you say are the key ingredients to a good night out?

I always think if you really organise the night it isn’t as good.  I think it’s one of those things than can really go either way.  You can either be really not in the mood to go out, and then you go out and have a great night – or you can just go out and have the worst time ever.  I think as well, if you’re with a good group of people it doesn’t really matter where you go, you’re with people you know you’re going to have a laugh with.