Thursday, May 6, 2010

Sophie interview with ilikemusic

First of all, thanks guys for keeping the blog going even in my absence. And thank you for the wishes. My exams are still going on. The first two were fine. I have 5 more. I'm so sorry to leave you guys without Sophie updates. But there's been a whole load of news. I promise to post them all here when i get some free time. Sophie is in the top 30 on iTunes right now. I hope everyone is still downloading the EP or the single. "Sophia Loren" seems to be a CD exclusive. So if you haven't got your copy yet, go get it now....

Here's a little something i found on ilikemusic. I'll post again on Sunday. Cheers. Miss you all!! (keep posting updates under the comments for this post please....)

http://www.ilikemusic.com/pop/Sophie_Ellis_Bextor_Interview_2010-9690/1

Sophie Ellis-Bextor's collaboration with DJ Spiller marked the beginning of her career. Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) topped the UK singles chart and launched Sophie head first into the world of pop. Over the subsequent decade three hugely successful albums and a plethora of top-ten singles followed. Now she's back with her new album Straight To The Heart, ready to do it all again...

I Like Music chatted with Sophie about the style of her new opus, collaborating with the finest musicians that pop has to offer, supporting Take That, and what the future has in store.

"I Like Music because… it's provided the soundtrack to all of my happiest memories." SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR

ILM: What can we expect from album number four?
Sophie Ellis-Bextor:
With this record, the first two songs written were with Calvin Harris and then with Freemasons. That kind of set the scene really, because they're both very dancey, electro, synthy tracks. I thought "right, I want an album to match that." So this album's kind of a more specific genre than the other ones. Very positive, upbeat and electro.

ILM: You collaborated with a lot of people on the record, how did you ensure the album remained cohesive and worked as a whole?
Sophie Ellis-Bextor:
I guess I don't really know. I'm not very good at that kind of thing; working out how to make it all cohesive. It just came together. It's difficult to be objective about your own writing style I suppose. Hopefully there's just some sort of motif, and my approach was quite consistent. With every album I've worked with a lot of different people. I guess I'm a creature of habit in terms of how I start stuff, and also my production habits in terms of the things I want to emphasise. So I probably can't really help myself. I think it kind of happens by default. It's like your wardrobe: you'll have your own style with the clothes that you wear even though they're all different tops, trousers, skirts and dresses. It's a similar thing with writing an album, probably!

ILM: What do you think the key ingredients are for a successful pop career?
Sophie Ellis-Bextor:
It just dawned on me recently that it's actually quite an achievement to be around for ten years! I think for me, the thing that's really helped is taking time to make the records and knowing to go away for a little bit. Don't give people enough time to get well and truly sick of you! It's the same for me. I don't get enough time to get sick of what I'm doing. I'm always really genuinely enthusiastic to start writing another album. It's always a good moment.

ILM: What stand out as the highlights over the last ten years?
Sophie Ellis-Bextor:
The people I've been working with. I think to myself "this is really exciting" about the fact that I still get to work with people that I think are arguably some of the most relevant pop writers and producers around. That's pretty cool! When Groovejet went to number 1, even though that was a really long time ago now, that was really special as well. I'll carry that with me. Then, when I first travelled around with my first record. I would get off the plane in somewhere like Mexico City or New Zealand, and people there were playing my music and were there to meet me! That was phenomenal. Even now it's really touching to have a teenager writing a letter to me from, I don't know, Russia or something. They're listening to a song that I wrote at home. It's pretty incredible.

ILM: What was it like to support Take That?
Sophie Ellis-Bextor:
They were really good at introducing me to the best way to put on those massive arena shows. They were very good hosts. They'd come and watch my soundcheck, and there were some really good parties and meals. It was also really good for me as a performer. I was pitching up at these arenas filled with 15,000 women waiting for four men to come out! I had to try and keep them excited but also win them over! It was pretty invaluable for me and definitely made me a better performer

ILM: What would be your advice to any aspiring pop musicians?
Sophie Ellis-Bextor:
My main bit of advice would be not to fixate on getting yourself a record deal and concentrate on developing yourself as your own person. Some people can't think of anything except for getting the deal, but actually when you get the record deal that's normally the start of a whole new set of problems. Other people start having opinions on what you should be up to and how you should be doing it. So I think that bit when you're just your own person, trying things out and experimenting and having fun is really valuable to have. The record deal will take care of itself.

ILM: What have you been listening to recently?
Sophie Ellis-Bextor:
I've been listening to a lot of new stuff recently, some really good albums have been out this year. The Goldfrapp album, Gorillaz album, Vampire Weekend and Phoenix. Those are my top four albums of the last four months or so.

ILM: Apart from the new album and single, what are your future plans?
Sophie Ellis-Bextor:
At the moment I haven't planned any further than about August 2010! I have another single out in July, so next month is the video and generally getting the wheels in motion for that. Then I'll just see where it takes me really. I'm the sort of person who quite likes those big question marks. I know some people get freaked out, but I'm used to not having plans so I can cope with that!

10 comments:

daniel said...

in sort of related news... ke$ha's 3rd single "your love is my drug" got C-listed on radio 1, and still not luck for sophie. YLIMD is an awesome song, but i still can't believe SEB's lead single (#23 in midweeks) hasn't gotten any support from radio 1 or 2.

daniel said...

btw. bittersweet peaked at #30 on itunes and is now dropping out (#38 right now), and fell to #2 on amazon after being #1 since sunday. she really fucked herself with cancelling the HMV signing too.. i just hope it can last into the top 30 by the end of the week.

Peter said...

Well Bittersweet is now at #40 in Itunes chart. I live in the UK, and have never heard it on radio. Hardly anyone listens to the radios fascination made Sophie visit. Without the support of Radio One or Two, I cant see this album getting anywhere. If bittersweet was played by BBC radio 1 or 2, Bittersweet would have been top 20 easily. The fact is, people have never heard Bittersweet and simply dont know its been released. Damn you BBC Radio and, more importantly, damn you Fascination records!

daniel said...

fascinations probably one of the worst labels to be on, its just so small and dinky. but, if SEB had been signed to parlophone or something similar they would have dropped her after SFTH.
i think at this point, to save the album, sophie almost has to go with off and on as the next single (as much as i would prefer something NEW). it's just that they can get the message out that it's a calvin harris production and that'll guaranteed airplay on radio 2 and maybe radio 1. not for the quality of the song, but because calvin is "hot" right now; which is why shitty artists like cheryl cole and justin bieber get tons of radio time in the uk.

Fran said...

Ke$ha = cr*p! BBC Radio only plays sh*t like this these days!! I'm so disappointed "Bittersweet" is not doing really well on the charts. It's a huge & fantastic song, that don't deserve this!! :-( Sophie doesn't deserve this!! :-(
F*CK BBC RADIO & F*CK FASCINATION/POLYDOR FOR THE LACK OF SUPPORT TO SOPHIE!! ¬¬

Anonymous said...

Fran:

You must be out of your mind. Fascination/Polydor not supporting Sophie enough? They kept her despite two massive flop albums, and funded this 4th album with obviously cost a bomb given the list of producers.

I feel that they've probably shove Sophie in anyone's faces via any vehicle that don't mind Sophie. So many interviews and news online, G-A-Y signings etc. It's really down to lack of support from TV and radio.

Not everyone can get on Jonathan Ross etc if they want to. It's not that easy.

Fran said...

@ Anonymous:

I don't think I'm out of my mind. Because if you compare other artists that work on Sophie's same label, for example, Ellie Goulding, La Roux, Selena Gomez or Cheryl Cole, they have been supported massively by Fascination/Polydor, with all promo stuff on the radios, TV adverts, etc... But for Sophie they do absolutely nothing. That's what I label should do for every artist, but they don't do.

P.S: Next time, say your name, please. Thanks!

Jarvis said...

It's a matter of whether the TV shows/radio wants her? I'm sure Fascination/Sophie would not reject a call from Jonanthan Ross if he does call? Or a call from Radio 1?

People like Gomez, Ellie Goulding and especially Cheryl Cole have so much hype about them - not forgetting that they are new artists. This industry moves extremely fast and they're always wanting new people. Sophie's been around for 10 years, and the problem is during the 10 years, she neither has the popularity of Girls Aloud or Madonna to get on really big TV shows. And she's no longer the much-hyped new blood Ke$ha, Diana Vickers etc etc, so she's neither here nor there and it's really hard to promote her.

Had this been playlisted by Radio 1/Radio 2 at all, we'd be cheering over a Top 10, not a Top 25 smash. There's only so much you can do actually.

Eden said...

theaudience's new single Feat. Sophie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3GdNzuEYU&feature=player_embedded

Fran said...

@ Eden: It's The Feeling!! Not theaudience LOL x

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