INTERVIEW - Vanquish

Glamorous new girlband Vanquish are looking to achieve big things in 2012. Having performed at the British Grand Prix and with songs written by Space Cowboy and Wayne Hector (the man behind many of The Wanted's biggest hits) their pop credentials are in fine form. I caught up with Bee, Holly, Lizzy and Rianna to see what they had to say about breaking into the notoriously difficult pop market.

Hi girls! Let’s talk about the album. Have you recorded all the tracks already?

Holly: We’ve done about half of it.

Rianna: We keep getting sent amazing songs at the moment - we’ve got really, really good material. We’re working with some amazing people too, aren’t we.

Holly: Yeah! We’re so lucky.

That seems to be the thing these days, people will have the whole album ready to go then they’ll land on that one new song that sounds like an obvious first single...

Holly: You have to get the music right, that’s the main thing.

Lizzy: You get one shot at it. If that one song is wrong, then...

Rianna: We’ve recorded lots of different kinds of things, we were just finding our sound at first.

Holly: It’s good for experience too, nothing goes to waste.

There are a lot of other girl bands round at the moment - what makes Vanquish unique? What’s your unique selling point?

Lizzy: Our number one thing is that our songs are so strong – it’s proper powerful pop, there’s no weakness in it at all. And us four, we’re such strong characters - so as a package it’s like a girl power thing going on.

Bee: We’ve got it all! I really feel like a chemistry with us; we feel a buzz and we’re genuinely like the best of friends.

Rianna: And we’ve spent so much time together!

Bee: We’re in it for the pure love of music and we each individually are just so passionate about this, we’re just the best of mates and I think this comes across. Our love for it, our friendship, our chemistry.

Rianna: That’s really, really important.

Holly: I kind of feel like with all these girl bands coming along and Little Mix winning the X Factor, it’s kind of like a test and we’re meant to like win - it’s like a challenge!

Rianna: You need to always be improving yourself, all the time - even someone like Beyonce - who’s amazing - she’s always trying to get better. And that’s what is good for us because we think, right, we’re going to be better than that and we can do this, so it’s good to have competition.

Girl bands like Girls Aloud/The Saturdays are five-pieces – do you think you get to know each-other better as a four-piece?

Holly: Yeah. And you’re a lot more memorable actually - if there’s four of you people get to know the individual personalities better. I feel five is quite lot. If there’s four, I feel like it’s the perfect number.

Bee: It feels nice. It feels perfect in every way.

Rianna: We’re all very similar in certain ways, but we’re also so different - like we’re all different personalities.

What was the appeal of singing as a band instead of trying to make it in the industry as solo artists?

Holly: Oh I’m so glad we’re in a band!

Rianna: There’s the support, that’s it.

Lizzy: And it’s more fun! You go to gigs all together... It’s lonely on your own, like travelling everywhere. When you’ve got three other girls who want to do exactly the same as you and have the same ambitions as you, you’re going to be happier because you’re sharing it with your best friends.

Rianna: Like when we’re on stage, when one of us catches the other’s eye, it’s like, oh this is so exciting!

Holly: Oh I get goosebumps!

I imagine it’s a lot less scary as well?

Lizzy: It is.

Bee: Like before a gig if we got nervous we’d egg each-other on like, yeah, yeah you’ll be fine!

Rianna: And we each bring something to the band. Like Lizzy is like the mum, we call her the mum of the group. And Bee’s the quiet one.

Bee: That’s not true!

How did you decide to cover Linkin Park’s Numb – it’s not a song you’d immediately associate with a girlband?

Lizzy: I think it was a mixture of things; we all thought about it, we all love the song.

Holly: It’s quite nice to do with the piano and stuff. It’s quite raw and we thought that was quite nice.

In your song Headrush you sing ‘looking at you I get a dangerous feeling, but I still wanted to stay’ – have you ever experienced that feeling in real life?

Bee: Yes! Definitely!

Rianna: I think everyone has, to be honest!

Holly: It’s like the whole bad boy thing, isn’t it. I like a bad boy!

Lizzy: Sometimes you just meet a guy that brings out the dangerous side of you...

Holly: And every girl loves that!

Bee: And you don’t want to leave them, you just want to stay there and have fun!

Rianna: You know you shouldn’t, but you just want to.

And when you’re in that situation, how do you make sure you stay on top, stay in charge?

Bee: We don’t!

Rianna: Haha! We’re strong independent women!

Lizzy: We call the shots!

Do you have any random facts or hobbies you can tell us about?

Lizzy: I hate chocolate!

Holly: Lizzy is weird! Rianna is obsessed with Vaseline, like OCD with Vaseline.

Rianna: Yeah, I literally can’t go anywhere without it or I start to hyperventilate.

Lizzy: Holly hates potatoes and has pasta with her Christmas dinner!

Holly: I didn’t think that was weird until now!

Bee: I can make a noise with my mouth and hand, and i’ve met no one else who can do this noise.

[makes weird noise like a robot duck that’s inhaled helium.]

Rianna: Haha! Yeah, Bee’s very deep.

Bee: I haven’t met anyone who can do that noise!

Rianna: Bee likes space and astronauts.

Bee: Yeah I want to go into space, that’s my dream!

Rianna: Bee’s going to be an astronaut one day.

You’ll have to put that weird noise in one of your songs, like a bit of beatbox...

Bee: But I haven’t even met any beatboxers that can do it.

There’s that girl from Little Mix, she does a bit of beatbox...

Rianna: She’s good, that Jesy - yeah, she’s wicked. I just don’t understand how people can do it, I’d never be able to.

Holly: I want to learn, like be really good at one thing. So people are like ‘wow!’

Have you had a look at the BRIT Award nominations - what do you think about them?

Rianna: Jessie J’s got a few. She’s amazing, like absolutely amazing.

Holly: And the battle of the boybands - JLS, One Direction.

And do you have a favourite boyband – JLS/The Wanted/1D?

Holly: I think JLS are my favourite.

Lizzy: I think they’ve all got something going for them.

Rianna: I love the Wanted’s music; like I love Glad You Came.

Holly: I love One Direction, and I still don’t know if that’s bad! I guess if Caroline Flack does, it’s ok!

Bee: The Wanted’s music is quite a current sound.

Holly: You know, we saw them in a dance studio recently; they were practicing for the x factor. We were all plastered to the window looking at them, and they all turned around! We were like ‘eeek!’

Lizzy: They’re quite handsome in real life, aren’t they!

Rianna: Yeah, that Siva, he’s got unbelievable cheek bones!

Lizzy: They’re not your typical boyband look, they’re something a bit different.

Rianna: They’re all attractive, but they’re a bit quirky.

Everyone seems to be going mad for One Direction right now...

Rianna: They are so cute!

Holly: I love them! That song, What Makes You Beautiful, it’s such a perfect song because every girl is going to be like ‘awwww, that’s about me!’

Bee: We’re all obsessed!

Boybands seem to have it easy with loads of teen girls as their fanbase – what do you think the trick is for girlbands to build up a fanbase?

Holly: Yeah it seems like you can only really get one really good girl band at a time, but for boybands it’s like ‘give me a boyband!’ and you can’t get enough of them.

Rianna: The fans tend to all like the same ones. They don’t just like just one. They all love all of them. Although you do sometimes get the die-hard ones who are just really into one.

Back in the day everyone seemed to be really up for all the girl bands!

Bee: The Spice Girls, I was absolutely obsessed with them.

Rianna: I used to have the postcards, you know, the little postcards you’d get of each Spice Girl.

Bee: We hope that we can be like that, because we’re pretty much just normal girls. And young girls can relate to us.

Rianna: And we love to be crazy, we love to have a laugh. We’re always laughing and giggling and joking around, so we hope that comes across.

Bee: We’re just four normal girls!

You’ve done some pretty showbiz things already though - you performed at the British Grand Prix!

Holly: That was our first massive gig, it was scary! Our first massive stage and we had a big TV screen blowing up our faces.

Bee: We had it quite easy though as the crowd was just full of drunk men going like ‘wheeey!’

Holly: Perfect first audience!

Did you see Lewis Hamilton at all?

Lizzy: Nahh, it was so loud, we were right by the track. Those cars were so loud!

Rianna: It was a lot of fun though.

Holly: Though I did walk behind Lewis Hamilton on a catwalk once! When we was with Nicole Scherzinger at some movie awards... I was taking pictures of her bum eh! Ha!

She’s amazing isn’t she?!

Holly: She’s stunning!

Bianna: I want her body!

Lizzy: She’s a proper all-rounder. Like the voice, the dance, the body - she has just got the complete package.

Holly: I think she was kind of always meant to be a solo artist.

Rianna: At the Royal Variety Performance she sung the Phantom of the Opera, if you watch it it’ll make you respect her on a whole other level.

Holly: She hits this note like EEEEEE!

Rianna: Like the high E, she hits it. She’s just perfect!

Bee: We need to find something she isn’t good at. Her hair must be fake, like extensions....

Lizzy: Maybe she’s got like five toes...

Rianna: Five toes? Lizzy I’ve got five toes!

Lizzy: I meant seven toes! Like what’s that where your feet are joined – webbed toes!

Rianna: I’d rather have webbed feet and still have her body!

Bee: Maybe she’s got a tail...

A lot of radio playlists often seem to be quite anti-pop unless it’s already big in America  – what do you think about that?

Holly: I know! It’s really unfair! I listen to Radio 1 quite a lot and they’re quite rocky and indie aren’t they? I think it’s luck as well though, like our manager was saying one week they’ll be like ‘let’s have a pop week’, so I think it’s a lot to do with luck. I know a Radio 1 Newsbeat presenter so maybe that’ll help us out... ha!

Lizzy: We’re just going to try and push for every station.

It just seems to be a bit of a shame at times, because Radio 1 - with their millions of listeners - can sort of decide who makes it or not...

Lizzy: And they can sort of make other stations think twice about putting tracks on their playlists...

Rianna: You’ve always got to have something a bit current on your songs, maybe if it’s like dub-step or whatever, something people can relate to. We’ve got some tricks up our sleeve as well that I don’t think people will expect, so it’ll be fun to see what happens.

Bee: I think it’s important for people to enjoy our tracks as much as we do.

Lizzy: Because when we listen to them we just want to get up and dance and hit the clubs.

A few shots, party...

Lizzy: But we don’t drink, ha!

Rianna: Nahh, we like a little tipple, don’t we. A little sherry or port of an evening!

Holly: Suit yourself, blimey!

Rianna: Port and lemon is lovely! It’s a good Christmas drink.

Holly: I like gin and tonic – it’s slimming!

You did a YouTube cover of Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger, what other songs are you loving at the moment?

Rianna: I think Rihanna is absolutely untouchable right now. She’s just completely and utterly amazing.

Holly: She’s like a goddess! Like I think she might even be bigger than Beyonce now...

Rianna: I think she might be a robot! But Beyonce is amazing as well.

Holly: Beyonce always gives it 100% every single time.

Rianna: That’s what’s so inspirational about her. Like constantly every time you see her, she’s always even more amazing than the last time.

Holly: Her stamina!

Lizzy: And seeing her live, it’s like you’re listening to the track on her album.

Holly: Very inspirational!

Bee: The way she’s swinging her head around and around and still singing.

Holly: I love Professor Green as well, I really like him. And that Emeli Sande

Rianna: She’s amazing! She’ll be big, yeah. Good look, good voice.

Holly: Yeah, unbelievably stunning.

Bee: And Calvin Harris as well, he’s wicked. We Found Love, it’s amazing isn’t it, it’s so good. I like his earlier stuff as well.

Rianna: I like LMFAO as well. Everyday I’m shuffling! There’s so much good music right now, there’s been some wicked tracks this year.

How about Rebecca Ferguson – I’m loving her at the moment...

Bee: Her voice is incredible.

Rianna: So chilled isn’t it, and really raw. I love it.

The Cher Lloyd album’s pretty good as well...

Holly: She’s like my guilty pleasure.

Bee: I think she is for a lot of people, isn’t she.

Holly: I really want to hate her but actually I quite like her.

Rianna: Well I’ve got her songs on my iPhone so I can’t really knock her. And it’s good in the gym too.

So, you’ve worked with Space Cowboy and Wayne Hector (who’s written for The Wanted), did you feel in safe hands knowing they’ve written loads of big hits before?

Lizzy: They’ve come up with some amazing tracks for us, we’re so lucky to have them record with us.

Holly: It feels like a dream with people like that on board, but it’s really real! Like it’s crazy! We’re really lucky.

Rianna: We’re working with Jorgen Elofsson as well who wrote our track The Harder You Love. He’s written for Kelly Clarkson...

Bee: He wrote some of Britney’s tracks...

Rianna: Westlife tracks... massive, massive. He wrote the track we’ve just recorded and he’s like helping us with the album as well. We are so lucky when it comes to writers.

And have they given you any tips or stories considering they’ve been in the industry for so long?

Rianna: Well we all do write ourselves too, so we want to bring that out a lot.

Lizzy: It’s like when they’re just throwing great songs at us...

Rianna: Yeah, you can’t turn them down.

Bee: It’s good to see people like that feel enthusiastic about us, want to work with us, and do more tracks with us.

Lizzy: It’s like they’re believing in us.

Bee: They’ve worked with some incredible people and now they’ve decided to work with us, it’s like wheey! That’s amazing.

Has it been exciting getting all the feedback from the fans on Twitter as well?

Holly: Oh they’re so nice! Really loyal.

Rianna: We’ve got some lovely fans, they’re so sweet

Bee: And it’s nice watching it all grow, like gaining fans - it’s like ‘new fan!’

Was it weird going from ‘normal people’ to going into the pop career, with people knowing who you are? Did it feel strange?

Rianna: It’s very odd, it’s strange.

Holly: And it’s hopefully going to get bigger and it’s going to be weirder and weirder, but nicer though.

Rianna: If you have a down day, just go and look at some of the lovely comments they’ve left – you can’t help but be so touched by what they say.

Holly: One of them came like all the way from where she lived, like five hours on her own, and bought us a massive bag of sweets and chocolates and stuff. She was right at the front, waiting there by herself.

Rianna: It was all the stuff that we liked as well.

Lizzy: And we literally performed for like ten minutes and that was it. And she’d come all that way.

Rianna: She was so sweet, bless her.

Bee: And she was singing all the lyrics as well! It was so nice.

Rianna: That’s what we want, we want people to appreciate and love it.

Bee: Especially at that early stage before we’ve properly released anything, to have people coming on board already and getting excited with us.

What would you like to have achieved by this time next year?

Holly: Wembley!

Lizzy: It would be amazing to have a Number One single.

Holly: That’s very ambitious but that would be cool.

Gotta set your sights high, you never know...

Holly: We would love to have an arena tour, that’d be so good.

Rianna: Yeah nothing too fancy, just a small arena tour.

Lizzy: We’re hoping to get on a support tour this year. And then hopefully a few years down the line we’ll have our own headlining tour.

Well that’s the trick isn’t it, get on with one of these boybands that are touring...

Holly: Well, One Direction perhaps...

Lizzy: Oh don’t, I think we’d be a bit dangerous for them.

Holly: They seem fun, yeah!

That Harry Styles, he seems a bit naughty... remember what he said to Matt Cardle when he won the X Factor...

Holly: We met Matt Cardle the other day, he’s so nice. I’ve never met anyone so nice.

Lizzy: He was so humble, and really chatty, and had time for us.

So you’re all big X Factor fans then, did you enjoy the last series?

Lizzy: We really liked Little Mix

Rianna: They were just so sweet and nice, weren’t they.

Bee: It was good to see a girl band win!

Rianna: There needed to be something like that, because hopefully that’ll persuade more people to support girl bands more.

Holly: And hopefully we’ll be caught up in it!

Rianna: As long as you’re not exactly the same, and we’re not. Everyone’s very different.

Bee: It’s music, so there’s room for everyone.

INTERVIEW - Rise To Remain

Rise To Remain are the UK’s hottest new metal band, already racking up acclaim from Kerrang! And Metal Hammer who both awarded them their ‘Best New Band’ accolade. After a series of EP releases and blistering festival sets, September sees the band releasing their debut album – they have also just announced a 20 date UK headline tour. I caught up with the band’s vocalist Austin Dickinson to get the low-down on all things Rise To Remain.

You recently supported Funeral For A Friend on tour – did you have any favourite cities that you played to?

It’s really hard to decide as we’ve had so many great shows everywhere; Manchester, Wakefield, London, you name it! It’s just brilliant because there’s all the normal places where you know everyone will always be totally up for it – like Manchester is a kick-ass city, there’s always a party happening! But then we get to go to places that we wouldn’t normally visit, Penrith for example – going to somewhere like that and getting a great reaction, that’s a whole different kettle of fish - people go nuts for you and it’s like, ‘WOW!’

You guys also recently played Download - how does the experience of playing the smaller venues compare to festivals?

At small shows you’ve got say 400 of your fans going bat-shit crazy. When you play a festival, you’ll have those 400 guys, they’ll be there; but they’ll be surrounded by like a couple-thousand people who might not necessarily have heard of you or checked you out otherwise. It’s a great platform to be able to play to a lot of new potential fans.

And was that also your thinking with releasing your EP with Metal Hammer magazine, getting more new people on board?

People just download most of their music these days, so I’d rather just give it to them and see what they think. That was our first proper introduction, we’d done a couple of EPs before then but we’d only sold them at shows. That was the main idea behind that – it being a kind of introductory release - and we were very happy Metal Hammer magazine were on board with it. They’ve started to do those free releases a lot more recently – the most recent The Defiled album for example - who are a great band by the way. It’s a brilliant way to just get people hearing your stuff.

You’re now signed to a major label, EMI – does that feel like a very different aspect to releasing your music?

To be honest, not really, as EMI have everyone’s best interests at heart. In this case we did everything in the reverse way, we actually signed to the label after we had our album mastered and finished. The whole reason we wanted to do that was that we didn’t want a situation where we had a label telling us what to do. EMI just did the complete opposite - as soon as they heard we were looking for a label, they got excited. We were just chatting away and they showed the same enthusiasm in the record that we did; that’s so rare in a record label these days, especially a label as monolithic as EMI. We just can’t wait for the album to be out and for everyone to hear it.

And what kind of stuff can we expect from the album?

Gnarly guitars, gnarly dudes, rad sounds. Fast, heavy, big choruses - we tried to mix things up a lot on the album. It’s definitely diverse, listen to our track The Serpent and you’ll have a rough idea of what the album is about. To be honest, we don’t want people getting bored halfway through our songs – I’ve heard bands before where some tracks are just six minutes of self-indulgent shred, and it’s like, it sounds ok for the first three minutes, but then it’s kinda boring. We want to keep changing things up, keep things interesting, keep people satisfied.

I think that’s always the true test, if their albums are consistent from start to end – that’s what you want to hear.

Yeah! I have the same problem with a lot of metal releases as they tend to stagnate by track six. It’s a shame as there are a lot of amazing bands out there who might just fall short on a record. We just wanted to make a foolproof album that just has song after song that keeps your attention.

With so many bands around, does it ever feel quite competitive, that you need to be doing your own thing to stand out?

That’s the music industry for you, mate. It’s always like that, but at the same time, the people you’re ‘competing’ with are also your best friends. We’ve toured with bands like Korn, Trivium, and we just all really get along. There’s definitely a kind of camaraderie that comes from being a musician. You tend to all get together, have a bit of fun, say ‘Hey, let’s get some beers!’ and so on...

Some of these bands you’ve toured with have been around for years, have they shared any of their experiences with you?

I lost my voice on day a while back and I remember Matt Heafy from Trivium saying ‘Have you been drinking much water?’ and I was like ‘No more or less than usual.’ ‘Ok piece of advice,’ said Matt ‘Don’t stop drinking water until what’s coming out is the same colour as what’s going in.’ Thanks! Too much information, but thanks! Shit like that happens all the time, there’s always advice you can pick up on. When you’re touring with bands like Funeral For A Friend that have been so iconic in the world of post-hardcore and metal, the lessons you can learn from just watching them on stage and talking to them are infinite.

Do you feel the music industry is kind of moving away from the whole ‘we were discovered on MySpace’ thing now?

Well, I mean, that kind of thing has happened - like the classic story of a girl singing in a tube station, and then all of a sudden she’s headlining Wembley. It’ll always be there, but at the end of the day, it’s just technology advancing. Everything will just converge into one black box eventually - It’s gonna wipe your arse, play your favourite songs and call your wife when you’re coming home.  I dunno, I don’t know where the next step is. It’s funny you mention it as me and the Funeral For A Friend boys were having this exact conversation the other day, what’s the next step? – I’m not sure we can give away our plans just yet, it’s top secret, but yeah, we’ve got plans...

I guess that’s kind of the core of the matter – that it’s just another platform you can use to get your music out there, but you can’t rely on it entirely.

The thing about the internet is that we can stay up to date with our fans, we can get feedback, upload live videos on YouTube, keep track of how everyone’s doing – it’s cool to chat to fans, show our appreciation. They’re the guys that keep us on tour. If I ever see a fan wearing one of our t-shirts or something I’ll go up to them and give them a hi-five.

That’s the power of music isn’t it, that it can just touch so many people. It’s always there, whether they’re driving down the road, or going shopping.

Completely. And it’s important to respect that, especially to acknowledge our position. People appreciate our tunes, and they appreciate it even more when you go out and say thank you.

Rise To Remain’s latest single Nothing Left is available to download now. The band’s debut album City of Vultures is released on the 5^th September.

INTERVIEW - Dionne Bromfield

This week sees up and coming songstress Dionne Bromfield releasing her new single Foolin', the follow up to massive airplay hit Yeah Right. Aged just 15, she's already bagged herself a record deal on Amy Winehouse's Lioness label as well as a slot presenting The Friday Download show on the CBBC channel. With so much talent on show, we thought it'd be only right to catch up with her for a quick chat.

You’ve performed at some of the biggest arenas in the country like the MEN and the O2, do you prefer big venues like this or smaller, more intimate settings?
I like both. I like intimate because it’s nice to be able to connect with the audience a little bit more and it’s nice and cosy. Then again, I like playing big arenas because to be able to say I played there is really cool and I get to connect with even more people! Tricky question!

Do you get nervous before you go on stage?
Oh yeah, I think everyone gets nervous. But a little nerves is good, you know you’re alive!

How does it feel being so young in the music industry? Is it easy dealing with people much older than you?
Sometimes it’s difficult because you just want to muck about. Sometimes I’m like ‘c’mon, I’m a teenager, give me a break!’ Haha! I’m lucky, my mum is always with me and it’s nice to have someone there who I know is looking after me and guiding me.

Do you think you’ve grown up since working on this album?
I have changed a lot. I signed my first album deal when I was 12 so it was a big step, it’s a big job and you have to mature. And I don’t think it’s a bad thing, I’m so used to working with adults now. I don’t class myself as an adult  but I have that mentality because I can’t act like a kid and get on people’s nerves. I have to have that maturity.

You’re currently presenting The Friday Download show on CBBC – did presenting come naturally to you and how different does it feel from performing? 
To be honest, when I went for the audition I didn’t think I’d get it at all. There were loads of other actresses there that had been on all these BBC shows. I was thinking I definitely wouldn’t get it. I did my audition,  forgot about it, and I was kinda like wow, when I got the part. I couldn’t believe it, I was over the moon. Even my mum was like have you got the wrong person?

It’s exciting to know that when you go to do something that is totally out of the box , totally didn’t see myself being able to do it, that someone looks at you and thinks you have the skills to give it a shot.  It was nice to be acknowledged in that way, I love being a presenter.

Were you prepared for the great success of your single Yeah Right? What feelings went through your mind when you first heard it on the radio?
When I first heard it I was over the moon, I couldn’t believe it. And when it got so much hype as it did I was like this is my song and when we finished Yeah Right, I didn’t think it would be a hit. I think I doubted myself a little bit, I thought it wouldn’t do that well, but it did , I’m amazed by it. No wait to see how people react to my new single Foolin’.

Your new album is called Good For The Soul, what else is good for the soul?
Going to concerts and watching other people perform. Anything to do with music. I guess doing school work is good for the soul in the long run! oh, and ice cream!! I think my album is going to be good for your soul!

Foolin' is available to download on iTunes now. Dionne's album Good For The Soul is released on the 4th July, with Play.com offering 1,000 exclusive signed copies of the CD.

INTERVIEW - Starlings

This week sees Sheffield's finest, Starlings, releasing their new single 'Sirens' - the follow-up to debut track 'Weight In Gold', it sees them bringing New Wave back to Britain with a bang. I caught up with the band as they share their thoughts on the eighties, songwriting and living the rock and roll lifestyle on tour.


Your sound is very 80s influenced – do you have a favorite track from the 80s?

The 80s was a remarkable decade for music, one which I don’t think will ever be beaten for innovation.  If I had to pick one favorite track at the moment, it would be The Rainbow from Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden album.  It is constantly on repeat on my iPod.  It gives me shivers.  To be fair I could have picked any track from Talk Talk's back catalogue.  Talk Talk were the ultimate balearic rock band and they are an indelible influence on our own balearic sound.  Mark Hollis is a genius!


How did it feel the first time your track was played on BBC radio?

Getting BBC radio play still carries great kudos, even in the internet age, and it is an important milestone which all up and coming bands look to pass.  We were naturally over the moon when we got our first BBC radio play.  Like any quality exposure, it leaves you wanting more.  It also has the effect of reinforcing your internally held beliefs and on some level makes you realise that you probably are as good as you think you are.


Do you think the music scene is a friendly place for new bands to launch into at the moment or is it too competitive/crowded?

I think the music scene at grass roots/local level can be a fairly friendly place to be.  There have never been more opportunities for bands to get their music instantly heard and there have never been more places to play on the live circuit.   Perhaps the effect of this is that the scene has become saturated with average acts big on bluster but lacking in substance and songs.  This makes it harder for the really good new bands to get their heads above the parapet.  But I'm a firm believer that the good will out.


You talk about your hometown of Sheffield being important to your sound – are there any specific approaches you take when it comes to writing songs?

Sheffield's electronic music heritage has had an important influence on our sound.  The handful of bands I’ve been in have always used synthesised elements and I think a lot of that can be out down to the osmotic effects that electronically minded acts like Heaven 17, ABC, Cabaret Voltaire and the Warp record label have on those that grow up in the Steel City.  Sheffield still has a bit of an Artic Monkey's guitar group hangover, which has pushed us further away from six strings towards more synths and samples.  All elements together, Sheffield has moulded our identity and sound.

Nearly all of our songs start as chords on a guitar or a piano, to which we stitch a vocal melody.  We then get the right synth sounds, before exporting the embryonic idea to the practice room where we add the bass guitar and drums to the mix, before layering up any drum loops and electronic samples.  The lyrics come last.


How is the whole touring around the country experience treating you? Does it live up to the classic ‘rock and roll’ stereotypes?

Living the dream.  Free booze and free love.  Nothing more to say.  What goes on on tour, stays on tour.


You filmed your video for Sirens in the peak district – how naturally does filming a video come compared to the usual business of recording songs/playing live?

Recording a video has similarities with both recording songs and playing live.  There are scenes that you have to do again and again in order to get the correct take, which is similar to time spent on pause and repeat in the studio.  Then you have to mix that with the performance elements you would use in a live environment.  If you're a born performer, shooting a video forms a fun part of your artiste repertoire.


What can we expect from your debut album? And do you feel the album ‘format’ is still important in an age when most people download their music?

To us, the album format is still massively important.  It gives artists the opportunity to show that they have a body of work rather than being just one hit wonders.  Sometimes music has to be heard in context and as part of a bigger picture, which only the album format (and perhaps playing a longer live set) can provide.  Colour of Spring and Spirit of Eden by Talk Talk are perfect examples of single elements forming part of a perfect composite piece.

For our debut album, expect extended singles, super songs and a shimmering disco sheen.

Cheryl Cole 'I miss my tea and English soaps'

Sometimes a video can speak a thousand words. And just watching this short interview with Cheryl as she steps out onto American soil for the first day of auditions on the US X Factor, you just fall in love with her all over again. Seriously the most adorable thing ever. For starters, she looks absolutely incredibly rocking a real 70s disco inspired look with big hair and bright colours to match the increased scale America operates in.

The American reporters seem just as enraptured with Cheryl as we are over here and her answers express that instant natural charisma and charm we've come to adore her so much for. True perfection - Cheryl really is fast on her way to becoming a global star.


Cheryl Cole at the First 'X Factor USA' Live Taping from Yahoo! Music on Vimeo.

Britney Spears: 'I love Adele and Robyn!'

It seems only right that one of the reigning Queens of pop music would have amazing taste when it comes to her contemporaries, right? So hearing that Britney is a big fan of Adele and Robyn really warms my heart. More to the point, I still don't think I'm used to hearing Britney actually speak - interviews with the star are so rare the vision I have in my head of her is invariably of her performing, dancing, singing... never sat down having a chat.

The interview begins rather slowly but picks up when Britney starts talking about working with Will.i.am; you really get to see more of her personality coming through here, as you do when she starts spazzing over meeting Brad Pitt. It's all rather adorable.

Also, how amazingly toned and fit does Britney look in the interview?! Stunning! It's fair to say Miss Spears is most definitely back on track.

Rebecca Black wants us to take her seriously...

"I don't want to be known as the 'Friday' girl," says Rebecca Black in an interview with The AP. I'm afraid it's probably a little late for that, love, but I hear you. Put yourself in her shoes for a moment, and imagine that for the rest of your life you would be known solely for Friday. It's enough to make you nauseous. So as unlikely as it seems, you can kind of emphasise with Rebecca when she says  "I want to be a performing artist - that's what I've always wanted to do."
I'm still not really quite sure how best to approach Friday as a song. I really don't like the whole 'It's so crap it's amazing, ha ha ha, I'm being super-ironic and cool' thing. Distinctly, Not Cool. But you know, the more I listened to the song, the more it started to grow on me. Obviously the lyrics still are, and always will be, absolute drivel. But the melody is actually half-decent, a solid bit of pop. Because the way Friday was created, coming from a factory-like production system, they follow pop formulas - they know the chords that work, the notes that sound great.

You have to remember that despite everything else, Rebecca Black remains an extremely young girl who has been thrust extremely prematurely into the harsh intensity of the media and public spotlight. Some of the abuse she's received has without a doubt gone beyond any kind of rationality. Death threats? That's sick. This poor girl was only trying to follow her passion for music. At that age, who is to deny someone from giving anything a try? It's a testament to the Internet age that a something like Friday can instantly explode into world-wide recognition - with an equally expansive host of 'haters' at the ready to target individuals with a stream of bile and insults.

"I want to see everyone's opinion of my actual voice… I don't care if they love it. I don't care if they hate it. Well, I'd like it if they loved it, but I just want to hear their opinion," continues Rebecca in the interview. She seems very eager to invite criticism in; I'd be far more wary if I was her. As the whole Friday saga has already shown, 'hate' is oh so quick to raise its head.

Of course, we could fast-forward five/ten years and see Rebecca as an aspiring American Idol contestant or something like that. And if she actually puts aside the colossal circus that Friday has become, puts her head down and works hard at what she's clearly passionate about; you never know, she might, just might, be half-decent.

INTERVIEW - Mini Viva

FROM APRIL 2010

The venue is London’s hallowed Hammersmith Apollo and I’ve come to see the dynamic pop duo that is Mini Viva.  Launched onto the music scene in 2009 with the irresistible Left My Heart In Tokyo, as the opening bars of that very track are met with a chorus of whoops and cheers from the audience, Mini Viva’s Frankee Connolly and Britt Love kick off their four track support slot for Britain’s Got Talent winners Diversity in style.

Dressed in black, the two girls exude effortless chic, blasting through the song with an impressive energy. The choreography is slick and immaculately rehearsed; the perfect accompaniment to the crème-de-la-creme of pop music. Next we’re treated to the shimmering, melancholy vibes and dreamy synths of I Wish and the epic balladry of Emotions of Love, a standout track from the girls’ forthcoming debut studio album. Even within such a short set-list, Mini Viva pack in versatility, showcasing that they’re just as skilled at down-tempo numbers as the dancey singles which have led them to chart success.

The highlight of the night comes in the form of new single One Touch. With a delightful refrain of ‘Do you wanna candy, hey baby’, it’s quite simply one of the best pop tracks to come out of the UK this year. Feisty to the max and packed full of attitude and catchy hooks, all wrapped up in the girls’ sultry vocal delivery, it’s mindblowingly good stuff.

Before the gig I sat down with the girls for a chat and they filled me in on what it means to be Mini Viva.  The duo currently broadcast a weekly webchat on social networking site Twitter, giving fans a unique insight into their lifestyle.

“To us, all our fans are really important and to have an interaction with them is even better,” say the girls.  It’s through mediums like this that fans really see the band grow and Frankee outlines Mini Viva’s own beginnings.  “We had to work so hard, and we’re still working now.  When we weren’t even signed we would go gigging in these really grungy places in London.  It was good for us, it got us that experience.”

“We’ve performed for all different types of audiences now; we’ve learnt to be strong,” adds Britt.  “When we performed for Clubland people would be throwing glowsticks and being crazy and I think it’s made us realise we’re going to come across people who’ll either love us or hate us.”

And what’s the best thing for them performing live?

“It’s the vibe, feeding off people.  When you see people singing the words, enjoying themselves and dancing it just gives you that extra oomph!  Sometimes it’s hard for us because we don’t normally mime so when we do stuff for TV we have to do pre-records and it feels weird because we prefer singing live and with a band.”

Mini Viva are renowned for working with production house Xenomania, the team behind some of the finest pop records around.  Led by chief writers Brian Higgins and Miranda Cooper, from their recording studios in the heart of Kent they lead their assault on the British charts, having penned hits for the likes of Girls Aloud, Kylie and the Sugababes.

“When you’re in the studios it’s a totally different experience to on stage,” say the girls.  “Xenomania are amazing and we go there to write music - we never feel tense though, it’s really relaxing. Brian and Miranda have taught us so much.  With I Left My Heart In Tokyo, even though it was their song, we put our vocal influences on it.  And especially with One Touch, we co-wrote that with them and it feels like ours.  It’s like our baby.”

I then quizzed the girls on their musical influences and how they felt they slotted into the current music scene,

“TLC, Destiny’s Child, All Saints, En Vogue – all those greats from back in the day, they were so strong.  There hasn’t been a girlband like that for a long time.  We just take influence from all their little things.  We wouldn’t want to copy anyone else so we look at other bands from the past, take out what’s good about them and try and add that into our own style.  There’s so many amazing, strong female artists out there at the moment too like La Roux, Lady Gaga, Beyonce...  That’s what we want to be like.”

And can the girls envision what route their lives might have taken if they hadn’t become singers?

“Before I was doing this I was just at college studying to be a make-up artist but now I’ve got my music career, I don’t think I could have ever done that.  I can’t imagine anything else, It’s really strange!” explains Frankee.

Fate, it seems, has worked out just right.  Going back to the girls’ new single One Touch and its confectionary-based lyrics, the question had to be asked, what was the girls’ favourite sweet?

“Mine has to be jelly babies!” says Britt.

“I love those long red things with all the sugar on them.  Strawberry laces!” enthuses Frankee.

And if the girls had to describe One Touch in just three words...

“Feisty.  Cheeky.  Sugary!  It’s definitely feisty, but it’s got that sweetness to it too.”

The girls go on to explain about their eye-catching music videos, including their work with Norwegian director Ray Kay, who was also the brains behind Cheryl Cole’s Fight For This Love video.

“He likes to do really iconic stuff like that and he definitely brought that to Left My Heart In Tokyo too.  There’s like two million views or something of it on YouTube.  It’s incredible!  In the One Touch video we’ve got bright make-up on, but we didn’t want it to be too much, like really kiddy.  We like to keep a kind of Japanese inspired style to us too.”

The girls also revealed what it was like getting accustomed to the high-energy lifestyle that comes with performing live and dancing in music videos and on stage.

“I remember when we supported The Saturdays on tour - it was only about a year ago but it feels like a million miles away now and it was a shock to our system as it was the first tour we ever did,” says Britt.  “Now that we do more dance moves we’re more used to it and it feels more comfortable, so yes, we do have to train hard.”

“When we first started out it was hard trying to sing and dance at the same time, we were like getting out of breath, thinking how do people do that!  But now it just comes naturally,” adds Frankee.

At some point in every artists’ career, there’s always the opportunity for a spot of collaboration and the girls are eager to chat about the subject,

 “We’d love to do something with Jay-Z, maybe Will.I.Am... definitely some American artist.  We’ll be going over there soon so hopefully something might happen - we’re on the same record label as Will.I.Am and the Black Eyed Peas.  The R&B/Hip-Hop thing is really in at the moment – people like N-Dubz... Tinie Tempah...  He actually asked us ages ago if we could collaborate.  But first we just want to get our album out there though, so people know who we are, and then we can think about starting to collaborate.”

INTERVIEW - Boyz II Men

FROM NOVEMBER 2009

So, you’ve got your new album Love out now – What was the inspiration behind recording it?

Well, basically our record label presented us with a deal to do two albums of covers. We had already done the Motown hits album, but this time we wanted to do something a little different and encompass love songs from a variety of genres of music. A lot of people know us from singing R&B, but growing up we’ve been inspired by so many types of artist and so many genres and we wanted to capture that as much as we could. So these songs are ones we used to listen to when we were growing up as well as tracks by artists that we like, and we just wanted to put it all into one big collection. There were a lot of songs to choose from but we narrowed it down to these and we felt it best represented not only the theme of love itself, but it gave people who are familiar with our music and sound something else to broaden their horizons.

And when you’re not recording, what kind of stuff do you like to get up to in your spare time?

We don’t tend to get much spare time nowadays. That said, we all like to have our down-time when we go on holiday, we like to chill out. Me personally, I like to scuba dive. I’ve been doing that for the past 12/13 years so I love to do that. And when I’m home I like to hang out in my photography studio that I opened about 4 and a half years ago, so that’s kind of like my new creative hobby. So we’ve got a lot of different things we like doing.

You’ve been together as a band for over 20 years. Do you feel the music industry has changed much over that time?

Oh, definitely. It’s changed in a big way. Obviously the internet had a lot to do with that change and it took a while for the industry to adjust. The industry also has a way of ‘fixing’ itself though and right now I think it’s at a point where it’s learning how to integrate into the new regime of internet music listeners and artists. Loads of artists are using the internet to their advantage now and a lot of people get record deals that way. I think it’s kinda cool! It still allows artists to express themselves without necessarily going to a major label and equally it gives the public something new to listen to. They can check out these artists’ MySpace or Facebook pages for example and instantly hear their music. So I think it’s a good thing in that sense.

Speaking of the internet, there’s been a lot of talk on there about a version of Back for Good you did with Girls Aloud singer Nadine Coyle. What was it like working with her?

We thought it was a great opportunity and that it’d work really well. It’d be good for her and us as her and her group’s fanbase is enormous in the UK at the moment. Our fanbase is big in America, so we thought it’d be a great kind of trade-off, helping each-other out. Unfortunately the business side of things didn’t quite work out and the track isn’t on the final version of the album. The song’s really good though!

In your time in the music industry do you have one specific career highlight? One moment you look back on where you really felt like you’d made it.

Well we’ve had so many great moments it’s hard to choose! We’ve done so many amazing things, worked with so many people. Performing at the Olympics in 1996, working with Michael Jackson... Mariah Carey. It’s a lot of highlights! It’s been a cool ride and the ride continues, we hope that there’s more in store for us in the future – we’re just enjoying it as it comes. I guess in a way the highlight of our career so far has been our career. Being able to still be around and to have people enjoying our music, it’s great.

With your new album being a collection of love songs it’d make the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day. Describe your perfect Valentine’s Day.

I would say the best ideas for treating your special someone are those spontaneous ones that they wouldn’t expect. I always like to stay four or five steps ahead of my partner about what they would like or what they want to do. If you’re in tune with the person you’re with, surprises always work.

You’ve won multiple Grammy Awards over the years. What’s it like receiving that recognition of your music and do you still get excited about attending award ceremonies?

We definitely do still get excited! I guess because we haven’t been in the public eye to a certain extent for such a long time, especially in that capacity, just being around our peers and seeing people we remember and them remembering us too is always an exciting factor. In terms of winning another Grammy or anything like that, we don’t know what the future holds, but just in case we never do, we’ve already got four!

On your album you’ve also got a collaboration with Michael Buble, how did that come about?

Michael’s a cool dude and he’s become a great acquaintance of ours. We did a song on his album called Comin’ Home Baby and it was just one of those songs that displays every aspect of ability we have inside of us - The vibe was really fun. Michael’s one of the coolest dude’s you’ll ever meet so when we came to do this album we wanted someone on there that could really rock the house and all it took was a phone call to get him on one of the tracks.

What other singers and bands are you liking at the moment? People you might want to collaborate with in the future?

A favourite of ours is Prince, we’d love to work with him, he’s incredible. There’s a few other artists we’d like to work with that we haven’t done anything with for a while, maybe another Mariah duet, or something with Beyonce or Whitney Houston. Really anyone who’s talented, able and ready to be creative, we’re down with it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a major artist, just someone who can hold their place in the songs we do.

When you’re on stage singing live what kind of emotions go through your mind seeing all those people cheering for you?

We feed off that energy the audience gives us. What they give us, we give back. We’re going to do our job regardless simply because we love to do it. But for the most part, if the crowd gives us love, we’re going to give 125,000 percent love back.

Randy Jackson produced this album for you. What kind of guy is he - Easy going? Intense? What’s it like working with him?

Randy’s a lot of fun, we’ve known him for a long time and he’s been someone we’ve always respected. Because of his American Idol fame being so prominent right now a lot of people forget he’s actually a musician – he used to be in the band Journey – so he has a lot of musical understanding. So going into a studio to record with him, he totally knows his stuff, he knows the right elements to bring in so we capture the right sound.

So, speaking of American Idol – and obviously the X Factor too – do you think these kinds of shows are good, giving people big breaks in the music industry the way they do?

Yes! It’s good for artists that might not have been able to afford to record a demo tape or been able to get the attention of a record company executive. So it’s a good platform for young singers to get their career started. These people that are on these shows have to fit to a tight schedule and what they have to do week by week to stay in the competition, it’s a gruelling process and definitely something that helps the artists – grooming them and getting them ready for performing and a career. So once they do win or continue on with singing in any respect they have a lot of information and experience at their fingertips.

As a band you’re hugely popular worldwide. What do you think is the key to having international success?

Well, one of the main things is making sure you go to all these places and promote yourselves enough so that the people there remember you. I think people remember your personal abilities and talent from seeing you right in front of their faces – they thrive off that and we feel that is the key to our success in different countries. So it’s definitely that, added to the fact we also have incredible songs written by incredible producers that become these classic hits people know us for.

And if you could have any job aside from singing, what would it be?

Being an executive sitting in an office, doing absolutely nothing! Wear a suit every day, go to work and the money comes in – Perfect, right?

INTERVIEW - The Ultra Girls

The Ultra Girls are Lauren, Lucy, Amy and Laura – currently supporting Kylie Minogue on tour, they’re bringing their own unique brand of girl power to the world of pop. Their brilliant debut single Girls Will Be Girls is out in April and it comes with an absolutely brilliant airport-inspired video. I caught up with the girls for a quick chat during a break in their hectic rehearsals for the tour.

Hi girls! So, what have you been up to today?

Lauren: Teen press! Going round chatting to loads of people really.

Lucy: We’ve been eating lots of snacks to keep our energy up. We’re really craving a Nando’s though! Maybe one day if we’re very lucky we could get one of those cards that let you get free Nando’s.

I think there are even some celebs who’ve done promotional stunts to get one of those cards...

Amy: We’d do it! Like eat as much Nando’s as possible in a time limit or something like that.

So, you’re supporting Kylie on the UK leg of her Aphrodite Les Folies tour. That must feel pretty good, right?

Lucy: She’s not had a support act in about seven years so it feels amazing to be going on tour with her.

How long is it until the tour starts now?

Lauren: A week!

Laura: We’ve just been rehearsing loads and it really gives you a sense of what it’s going to be like on the night. The whole thing is just feeling more and more real every day. It’s really starting to sink in.

And with all this rehearsing you’re doing at the moment, do you get a real buzz from it?

Lucy: We love it. It’s mental! The thing with rehearsing is that it makes sure you know exactly what you’re doing, and then you feel alright. It really calms your nerves. Every day we just love coming in and doing it. We can’t wait for everyone else to come see us!

So, do you all have a favourite Kylie song then?

Amy: On A Night Like This!

Lauren: I love Red Blooded Woman!

Lucy: That’s where she’s on the truck isn’t it?

Laura: I like the one where she’s walking around in combat trousers and a vest... Love At First Sight!

Lauren: Oooh, and Get Outta My Way as well!

Amy: What I really love is how on the video for Slow where she has all the people lying on towels around her, when they filmed it they had to glue the towels down because they kept slipping.

The video for your single Girls Will Be Girls is set at an airport... but it wasn’t a real airport that you filmed in though, was it?

Lucy: Nope, it wasn’t actually filmed at one. The one in our video would make a great airport though! It’s so colourful! We were thinking about going to Leeds & Bradford Airport to do it but then we thought let’s just get them to design it all on the computer.

And in the video each of you has a certain job that you’re acting out...

Amy: They were kind of all jobs that we had previously done in real life. Like I actually used to be a flight check-in girl. So it was kind of nice to revisit that ha!

Lucy: I’ve never really been a cleaner though! But I worked part-time at a hair salon and they made me mop the floor.

You nearly hit someone with your mop in the video.

Lucy: That was one of the most dangerous things we did when we were filming!

Laura, you’re a waitress serving out food - did you eat any of it?

Laura: Yeah, I ate some of the mushy peas. They were really cold though, and they weren’t green!

In the video you do a special ‘Trouble with a capital T’ dance move, will we be seeing that on tour?

Amy: We want it to catch on! We’d love for everyone to join in and do the dance move with us at the live shows. There’s going to be lots of fun stuff on tour, loads of energy and running around on stage. It’s all about getting the audience really hyped up.

And do you like to cause a bit of trouble yourselves?

Laura: You should ask our tour manager that question ha!

Lucy: It’s been a troublesome day, you could say.

Amy: We’ve had four interviews today and we’ve ended up talking about bogies... farts... poo?

Lucy: No, we didn’t talk about poo! Well... I guess we have now! Hahaha!

Laura: Hmm, what else? Twiglits!

Lauren: Boys!

Laura: Mashed potato... burps.

Lucy: We’re very boyish. Very vulgar actually. Vulgar with a capital V!

That’s the next single! Ha! Going back to the video, how did it feel filming something like that for the first time?

Amy: It felt really weird when we first walked out on set. We were just a bit like ‘What do we do? What do we do?!’

Lauren: The guys filming it will say stuff like ‘Quiet please, artist on set’ and you’ll be like ‘Oooh! Is that me?!’

Amy: Everyone was so nice to us which made the whole thing go really easily.

People getting you lots of cups of tea and stuff?

Amy: We got our own ha!

Laura: It was a bit weird doing everything against a green-screen, having to use your imagination to think about what’s there.

And was it a long day?

Lauren: Oh yes! It got to like one in the morning and we hit a wall of tiredness ha!

Lauren, you used to be in a band with Tom from The Wanted or something like that?

Lauren: People keep saying to me ‘You were in a band with him?!’, but we weren’t ha! Basically we both worked for the same company and we performed tributes. So I did the Spice Girls and Girls Aloud and he did Take That. So that’s how we know each-other.

So do you have a favourite Girls Aloud song then?

Lauren: The Show! I love that one.

There’s a brilliant video on your official YouTube page where you’re all in a car dancing away to JLS.

Amy: They put that up without telling us! And we were like... What?!

I take it you like a good party then? How’s the nightlife up in Leeds?

Laura: Yeah! It’s really good!

Lucy: We actually haven’t been out in a while, so we’re overdue a good night out ha!

You guys have done a brilliant mash-up cover of P!nk’s Get The Party Started and Blur’s Song 2. How did that come about?

Laura: We were just throwing ideas around really and it kind of grew out of that. It always amazes me too how even little kids know the Blur song.

So are any of you rock chicks at heart then?

Amy: I love 30 Seconds To Mars! Jared Leto is amazing!

Lucy: Ask her to name three 30 Seconds To Mars songs.

Go on Amy, name me some!

Amy: Hurricane!

Yes! With Kanye West!

Amy: Oooh, I didn’t know there was a version with him on it! I’ve got the six minute long album version on my iPod.

And there’s Kings And Queens...

Amy: Yes! *sings* “We were the kiiingssss and quuueeeensss!”

Lucy: Which is the one where he takes his top off in the video? Ha! Amy loves Jared Leto!

How did you come up with the name ‘The Ultra Girls?

Lauren: Well we were ‘Project A’ when we started out on the X Factor, but that was a bit of a work-in-progress; we weren’t really keen on it. So we were just trying to come up with some stuff and ‘Ultra’ really felt like us being determined to succeed and being fun.

Lucy: We’re also girls who are nice!

Lauren: And we can get away with anything!

A lot of bands live together when they’re first starting out, what about you?

Laura: We’ve had to really! We live out of our suitcases. It was a bit different for us as we’d already known each-other for about five years so it kind of cut out that ‘getting to know the other guys in the band’ phase.

You recently went on a tour round various schools across the UK, how was that?

Amy: It was cool! Really fun to do!

Lauren: The kids loved it!

Lucy: They were very responsive and really got what we were about. Just loving pop music and everything.

They don’t hold back do they?

Laura: They were all getting up and dancing! At one school we had this little boy that sung on his own, bless him.

Lauren: He was so good!

If you search on YouTube there’s a Spanish version of your song Girls Will Be Girls called Soy Como Soy.

Laura: We’ve been trying to sing it... Soy Como Soy!

Lauren: We might learn it at some point haha! Do a little rendition.

In their video they dance around with really not that many clothes on...

Lucy: Ours is the PG rated version!

Amy: Something for a wider audience.

And can you tell us anything about your plans for the rest of the year?

Amy: Well, Girls Will Be Girls comes out in April, then we’ll probably release two or three more singles and then the album will hopefully be out around September.

And what can we expect from the album?

Lucy: It’s a real goody bag of stuff! A variety pack of cereal!

Amy: We’ve got a few ballads on there. Then there’s some really powerful stuff, lots of good strong bass. Stuff that gets you in the mood to go out!

Lauren: We’re hoping to do some CD signings and we’ve got a lot of radio tours lined up too.

Amy: We just did a nice intimate acoustic performance for student TV which was really cool.

Lauren: We can’t wait to get out on the road and meet lots of people on our travels!

Interview originally featured on M Is For Music.