Here's the official Catch-up.
Hello Sophie, how are you?I’m good thank you.
What are you up to?
I’m actually looking through a load of backing tracks. I’ve been sent some dance-y stuff over the last few weeks. So I’m going though them and seeing if there’s anything I want to work on.
So people just send you tracks out of the blue?
Yeah. It’s how I used to work years ago and then I stopped doing so much of that and started working in the studio with people. But then because I’d had quite a quiet January it’s been quite nice getting things sent over again. So I’ve just been pottering through them to see if there’s anything that grabs me and makes me want to write a chorus for it.
What’s usually the ratio of good stuff when you go through tracks like that?
It’s probably about 50/50, I would say. But some stuff you just get ideas for straight away, while other stuff I might like but realise it’s not quite right for me. So I would say there’s probably about 25% of it that I decide is worth working on. And the ones I’m actually disciplined enough to finish is probably about 5%.
Have you heard anything in this batch that you think could be good?
Yeah. There are two tracks which I’ve got on the go at the moment which I like.
What kind of thing?
Both quite dance-y. One is slightly Robyn-esque, I suppose. And the other one is a bit more anthemic, hands-in-the-air kind of thing.
And you receive them as instrumentals?
Yeah, that’s right.
Do they have any control over what words you choose to put on there?
Well, it will usually go back and forth a bit. That’s why working in a studio with people is much easier, because you thrash that out at the time. But I sometimes find that if I work with people I haven’t got a long working relationship with I can feel quite self-conscious trying to come up with stuff in the moment. So it can be easier to do it at home on your own. That’s actually the way that Groovejet started.
Ah, really?
Yes, that one was an instrumental that they sent to me. I used to work like that a lot. With Groovejet I went into a studio and just recorded what I’d done, which was verses, a chorus and a middle eight. I didn’t realise they’d been sending the same track to lots of people, but then they came back to me and said they liked my verses and my middle eight, but asked if I could use a Rob Davis chorus. And I was a bit confused, because I was quite earnest and this was actually the first song I’d ever written that was released. I was like, well, it doesn’t really make sense now, because the chorus and verse are talking about different things, so I had to rewrite it.
What was your original chorus then?
Well, Rob’s chorus was much more straight to the point and had a really great hook with a really good lyric. I think mine was a little bit more complicated. His was far and away better than mine! Mine was not so much a chorus with a capital C.
Do those old demo versions exist?
Probably somewhere. I haven’t really chucked much out, but I’ve got boxes and boxes of CDs, and I’m not exactly sure where it would be. I’ve still got the old demo cassettes from theaudience! I’m not sure whether I’ll ever come to actually sit down and go through them all. There’s always so many other things to be doing. I thought I’d get so much done in the first three months of the year before this baby comes, but actually I find if I’m not working then I want to be spending time with the kids. So yesterday I went to the Natural History Museum with Kit.
How was that?
It was actually really sweet. I hadn’t ever taken him there before and his big brother was at school, so we went on the tube and went to a cafe before the museum and then went around the dinosaurs. It was really nice to have that one on one time. It was a lovely day.
How was your Christmas?
Really, really lovely. I had it as a bit of a beacon before me because December was a bit full-on. I even had the offer of a gig that came in, which would’ve meant two flights there and two flights back and getting home on December 23rd. My manager phoned me and told me he wouldn’t let me do it because they were worried they might kill me! Which was good, as it meant I had Christmas week to get ready. We had 12 of us here for Christmas and it all went really well.
Apart from not receiving your full supermarket order, which you tweeted about.
Mmm. I thought that was really pathetic. I’d actually booked it for the 22nd so that I had a day to go and buy whatever they didn’t bring, in case there were any things missing. But there was just so much missing! There were no sausages, there were no carrots and there was no butter. Stuff like that. And I’d ordered it ages beforehand! I know there are bigger problems in the world, but it was rubbish.
Did the supermarket in question respond to you on Twitter?
Yeah, they did. They said if I DM’d my order number to them they’d try and sort it out for me. But I didn’t want special treatment. I didn’t think that was very fair. They should know what was in demand.
But your Christmas was all good in the end?
It really was. I think I was the most chilled out I’ve ever been doing it at home, because it was the least amount of people. My mum had bought pre-peeled potatoes from the online supermarket she uses. Oh my God! What a treat!
Did you get any nice presents?
I got really great presents. Now that I’m a grown-up I sort of forget that I’m going to get presents at Christmas too. So I think everything you get as an adult is more touching in a way. Richard did very nice presents - I’ve got flowers every other Friday for the whole year. And I got a massive jar of chip shop gherkins, because I love those. So I’m happy.
And then on New Year’s Eve you went off to Phuket with Richard. How was that?
It was pretty lush actually. We were booked for a full live show, so the band came too, which was great. We had three days in the sunshine eating Thai food and being on the beach. I’d never had a warm New Year’s Eve before, and I definitely get it now. I’ve always been a one family holiday a year in the summertime sort of person. But now I’m seeing the appeal of a winter break.
How was New Year’s Eve itself?
Well, it was a private party - held by Russians - and they did celebrations and fireworks at midnight Thai time and then more at midnight Russian time, which was 3am. There were loads of performers - Kelly Rowland was there, who’s always very lovely - and there were dancers and circus performers and all sorts. And the weather was lovely, which sounds obvious, but actually there were question marks that it might be stormy. It rained pretty much continuously the next evening, in fact.
You said on Twitter recently that you were struggling to find maternity wear.
Yeah, I just think a lot of it assumes that because you’re pregnant you don’t want to look fashionable or attractive - that you just want comfort and stretch and that’s about it. I think it’s a bit of an omission really. I don’t really understand why it’s not done better.
Have you ever been offered a clothes range or anything?
Well, it is something that I’ve been thinking about for maternity. A girlfriend of mine - who’s also having her third baby - is a stylist and we were thinking we should maybe look into it. Even if it’s just a very small range of really nice things which you could wear while you’re pregnant and then also for the first few months after you’ve had the baby. Some of your features you still want to show off. Just because you’re pregnant doesn’t mean everything has to be a smock on top and down to your ankles. I quite like the 60s look where you have it A-line but still more tailored around the top. That’s quite cute. But I’ll do some research and see what comes out of it.
