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Welcome to Australia.
Thank you
How does it feel to come all the way down here to do a show at last?
It's weird because it's kinda new here. The Parklife festival is quite a big festival and there's so much music going on. We're on at the same time as Lady Sovereign, which is really annoying because a lot of people would like to see the both of us. We did our own little club show in Sydney and that was brilliant! Everyone knew all the words and it just felt amazing to come all this way and people know your songs.
What's your favourite song to perform live?
'Mathematics' is really fun. 'Remedy' and 'New In Town' is fun because people sing along really good. And I always play 'Stuck On Repeat'. I do different things for different shows, depends on what mood I'm in.
Any chance of working a cover into the set list? JLS perhaps?
Haha! Don't think we'd ever play that again. We cover 'Love Kills' by Giorgio Moroder and Freddie Mercury. Always go down amazingly with the gay crowd. We played it at Gay Pride in Manchester and it went down like crazy!
Why do you think British pop is so much better than pop anywhere else in the world?
I think we've just got a different attitude to it. There's such a great history of British pop. I think pop is a place where you can do something cool and interesting. When you go to the States, pop has got such a different meaning, it just means like bubblegum trash music. If you grow up thinking pop can be a great place then you can be great with it.
Where were you working before you started making music?
I went to university, got my degree and I worked in television production. [A music career] was always the dream but then I kinda got this job and it was stupid to turn it down. And I guess I was always too scared to quit and try to make ends meet until I got a record deal. When I worked in TV it was long hours. I would leg it from work, get changed and drive for four hours to do a gig, get back at 5 the next morning and then get up for work at 7. Literally burning the candle at both ends.
What finally pushed you to take the leap?
Leaving my old band (Dead Disco) was a big deal for me because it was my whole life at the time. I moved back with my parents for awhile and I got some songs together, then I moved to London. I didn't have any money, didn't really know what I'm doing, didn't know where to live. I just legged it down there and eventually things started moving together.
When I first heard Hands, I saw it as a sensible companion to modern Kylie and Rachel Stevens' last album...
Haha! Her only album surely.
No, she had two.
She did two? Really?
Yeah she had Funky Dory and then there was the second one...
What's the second one?
Something called... (name escapes me) Oh, I have this at home.
'Funky Dory' was good. I really liked 'Negotiate With Love'.
That was the first single off the second album.
So that was the second album! Maybe it was the first album I didn't know as well. Anyway, I do like that.
You put out two EPs before the album, Hands, came out. How do you think your sound evolved along the way?
Not that much, I guess we were holding back the more poppy tracks for the album. I wrote this album in a smallish period of time so I don't think it had that much room to evolve. But I always wanted a varied sound so I think these tracks are quite different even if they're all electronic.
When word first got out about Little Boots, there was a perception that you were more indie than pop.
I never wanted to be an indie thing. I never said it was and I guess people thought because I do things in my own way and you watch me on YouTube playing songs. Just because I'm quite DIY in some respects, people put me in that box but it was never meant to be that. I always wanted to be a pop artist. I just wanted to embrace pop songwriting, not be ashamed about it and just go whole-heartedly.
When songwriting, do you work on a few projects or focus on one track at a time?
I normally have a few going on at once. Cause you can not be getting anywhere with one song and you need to get away then come back to it with fresh ears.
Which was the hardest song to write?
I think the hardest to finish was 'Remedy'. I wrote the bulk of it one afternoon in L.A. and I knew it was really good. As I was finishing it, I was like, 'well it's got to be really good'. You can't just finish it off. So finishing it was really hard but the starting was easy. But they're all different. Some songs will take hours others will take weeks.
You worked with RedOne (producer for Lady Gaga and Backstreet Boys) on 'Remedy'. I'm surprised he didn't get you to do the name check.
Everyone says that but no, he didn't ask.
Do you prefer workshopping an idea with a producer, or do you go in with a clear vision?
No, I really like working with other people. I've been in bands my whole life. Some of the tracks I just wrote on my own in my bedroom but I find that a little hard sometimes. You get a bit cabin fever and I need that other person to bounce ideas off and give me some objectivity. I really enjoy that dynamic in the studio and that dialogue.
You worked with Greg Kurstin, who's produced for such a diverse range of artists...
I've known Greg for quite a number of years now. He's so incredible. He's done everything from Kylie to Peaches to Flaming Lips. He loves great songs like me, you know, we just love the challenge of writing the perfect pop song. It's something we get really passionate about.
'Earthquake' has been announced as your third single. Not the best timing perhaps?
I know. Well over here it isn't. We were playing live yesterday on TV ('Sunrise') and they were doing a whole piece on (the disaster in Indonesia and Samoa). But the song's not actually about earthquakes - it's metaphorical.
What other singles can we expect off 'Hands'?
This is going to be the third one so we probably wouldn't do too many more. There's another song that I really like that's not on the album that we could release. But it would be weird cause it's not on the album.
Would you repackage the album and then release it?
Yeah, I don't know. We're talking about doing that or doing another song off the album. But it's a hard call.
Maybe re-release 'Stuck On Repeat'?
Well, it's funny because I think we should've released it properly earlier and now I feel like it's had its day. It's come too far to revisit it now. I just think it's a really special song. It started the ball rolling for everything but I don't know if it's right to go back and re-release it.
Is it true that you had Kylie in mind when you wrote it?
Yeah, well vaguely. At that time I was writing songs, 'who could I write songs for?'. I was in more of a songwriter's head space rather than a personal head space.
Are you testing the waters in America?
We just did a sold-out tour there, so that's fantastic! We're going back next year quite a lot and the album comes out in Spring there. We're going to repackage it and put some extra tracks. I'm pretty positive about it. It's hard work over there but it's worth it if it pays off.
Have you started thinking about the next record?
No, I don't think I'll do one at the minute. I can't write when touring and doing promo. I'm not in the right head space. I just wanna finish this album leg and go have a clean break, then go bury myself in the studios again.
Any idea of the direction you might take it in? Will you still continue doing electro pop?
I guess it'll always be electronics. Keyboard and electronics are my instruments so I'm probably not gonna go heavy metal because I can't play guitar. But I'm thinking of maybe involving more organic instruments: more pianos and strings maybe mixed with electronics? That's a really vague idea.
I read in an interview somewhere that you grew up listening to Kylie and Brandy...
Brandy? I never said Brandy.
I read that and I thought, 'isn't that unusual?'
That's weird. I bet I said Blondie and someone must have misquoted me.
Yeah! I read that and I thought, 'I have to ask her if she has an R&B record in her'.
(laughs) No, it was Kylie and Blondie. Although, 'The Boy Is Mine' is a good song.
QUICK 5 WITH LITTLE BOOTS:
1. Who was your favourite Spice Girl?
Geri. She was the most feisty one.
When you were younger did you and your girl friends dress up as the Spice Girls?
Oh my God! Of course. I actually made a video for my English project with all my friends dressed up as the Spice Girls and I filmed it. I don't know back then which I would've been. Maybe Posh? I had brown hair.
2. If you were a drag queen, what would your drag name be?
Give me some good examples and I'll try to think of something.
How about Lolita Chandelier?
(laughs) Oh God, I don't know - it's quite hard. I'll think about it and I'll get back to you.
How did you come up with Little Boots?
Just a nickname from my friends cause I have small feet.
What size are you?
I'm a 3 in UK, which is really small.
3. Your least favourite subject at school...
Maths and physics.
You wrote a song called 'Mathematics'!
That's why I did it! I was rubbish at maths. And the first line is "mathematics is difficult".
4. If you were an iPhone app what would you be?
Ooh, that's a good one. Maybe Tetris? I'm obsessed with Tetris. I literally play it all the time.
I read that on your Twitter...
Yeah I've quit Twitter for Tetris.
5. What advice would you give anyone wanting to be a pop star?
Research it. Because it's not exactly what you think it's gonna be. You just got to be prepared for a lot of hard work.
What surprised you when you got into it?
How much non-creative stuff there is to it. How much uncreative work there is, like, the creative bit (the writing and all that) is actually quite a small piece.
There's the business...
Yeah and the promo and traveling. But it's worth it because you do all that in order to be able to do the creative bit.
4 comments:
Really good job on this interview! Congrats!
Thanks mate!
Cool blog by the way :-)
Great interview. Enjoyed reading it.
Thanks heaps, mate! :-) glad you enjoyed it.
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