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and Table.
Dave: Hello Sophie. Sophie: “Hello Dave” (flashing a
dazzling smile)
D: You know who I am? (I’m stunned) S: “Yes, I recognize you from your photo with my husband”
D: Oh, nice. It seems my
efforts have finally paid off. [laughter] It’s so wonderful to finally meet you. S: “Yes, its about time, isn’t it? I just want to thank you for all of
your efforts on behalf of my Official website and forum." D: Thank you, Sophie. It has been a privilege and honour for me to do it.
D: On to the
questioning, then. When did you arrive here in New York? S: “I flew out to Boston, and the we traveled across in the tour bus to New York. They had a day
off on Tuesday, then shows yesterday (Wed. the 25th) and today (Thursday the 26th) and I go home tomorrow (Friday the 27th), back to Sonny.”
D: Yes,
Sonny of course. And back to completing your next album? S: "Yes. Although it’s pretty much done. I’ve done the video and all the artwork. The single is
coming out the 5th of February."
D: Oh. That is a definite date? I have an exclusive here! S: “Yes, you do!”
D: Can I reveal this
information? S: “Of course. Absolutely. I try to keep everyone on the website updated."
D: We certainly love it when you come on and leave
messages. By the way, your new song “Dear Jimmy” is fantastic. S: “Thank you. Yes, it came out on Monday. I love that song”
D: Yes, its really
good. S: “Its not on the album, though.”
D: Right. I’ve heard rumours that its going to be a b-side to “Catch You”. S: “I don’t know if it is,
actually. I don’t think it is. The b-side might be a song called “Down With Love”. And one of the remixes of the single. We’re having a few done.”
D: We have a topic for it in the forum and would love it if you came on and posted whatever you could tell us about the song. For instance, who is “Jimmy?"
S: "It’s a fictional character. Something of a psychotic fan letter. It was really good fun to write. I did that one with Hannah."
D: Right.
Hannah Robinson. S: “Yes. I also wrote the second single “Me And My Imagination” with her. We had such a nice time working together. We’ve got a few
things on the album. She’s great."
Part 2:
D: Now, the work that you did with Fred Schneider from the B52’s – is that going to be on
the record? S: “I think one of the songs might be, actually – yeah. There was a lot of stuff we did."
D: That was done quite a while ago now,
wasn’t it? S: “Yes. But I saw him again last night. I’m really proud of the stuff we did. Its just that some of it was so B52’s-ish, that it was actually
kind of hard to blend it in with the rest of what I was doing."
D: I would imagine that you write and record a lot of material over the course of a
year. S: “I did over 70-80 songs. It was ridiculous.”
D: And then you have to try to make a cohesive record out of it all. S: “Exactly. And you
don’t even necessarily go with the songs that are the most commercial sounding. They’re not necessarily the ones that make good bedfellows with the other
ones. You have to select the ones that really compliment each other and fit together well. I’m confident I’ve done that. Well, see.”
D: Tell me about
the new record label. Its called Fascination and is as subsidiary of Polydor? S: “Yeah, its actually the same people as the guy at Polydor – Peter
Lorraine. They’ve just given him his own imprint. He took me with him, but its all in the same building, just a different annex. But its quite nice because
Peter is a real ‘Pop fan’. He’s obsessive about pop music.”
D: It’s very important that whomever has your label is interested in you as an artist.
S: “Peter and I have known each other for a long time. He’s always worked outside of his job description to make sure everything was just right. Now that it
is his position it’s working out really well. I’m having a nice time. I’m starting to get a bit nervous, but for the right reasons. There’s nothing I want
to change. Its just that after two years, you’re suddenly going to find out what happens [laughter].
D: Sure. You’re going to be ‘out there’ pushing
and promoting it. S: “It’ll be good though. I can’t wait.”
Part 3:
D: I must tell you, that I really love the “Shepherd’s Bush”
concert on the DVD. S: “Oh, thank you. It’s a shame in a way, that we didn’t record the next tour after that."
D: But wasn’t that the
abbreviated tour supporting “Shoot From The Hip”, where your pregnancy ended it prematurely? S: “No, there was a tour in-between, that culminated at a
show at the Hammersmith Apollo."
D: What happened? You couldn’t convince your father (Film Director Robin Bextor) to do it? S: “No, it just
didn’t happen. I think because he’d only just done the previous live tour, so its like it was a bit pointless. But it was a better tour, I think.”
D: “Yes, better? S: “Well, you just get better with time anyway. But then the next time I come out I’ll be different again. So, I’ve been doing a few
warm-up shows.”
[DH Note: Really? Where and when have these occurred? I’m sorry I didn’t follow-up with this question]
S: “I hope to
be doing some more gigs around Christmas”
[DH Note: You heard that here first]
D: What about radio appearances? S: “Oh, I’ll do all
that.”
D: Now, are you still sticking to your claim that you don’t have the “I need to break America gene?” S: “Right. I don’t really. If The
Feeling do the UK, Japan and then the USA, and I can do the rest of Europe, most of Asia and the UK we’ll be happy – we’ll have most of the world covered
won’t we? [Laughter]
D: Lily Allen just zipped through the US on a quickie, first-time in the USA tour (just a few cities, then back home) S: “Oh
yes. She has the same management as The Feeling”
D: I see. It appears her management is eager to see if she can cross-over to the US audiences.
S: “Yeah, well I think it might happen. I like Lily Allen”
D: Right, I read a recent piece where you said that. Some people have made comparisons
between the two of you. S: “I don’t really see that.”
D: Well certainly not your styles of music. That’s very different. But perhaps the fact
that you both sing with a very distinct English accent. S: “Yes, that’s true”.
S: “Certainly if one of my songs does well here (in the USA), then
brilliant.”
D: Well, they’ve kind of done well – in the underground. “Murder On The Dance Floor” and “Groovejet” have gotten club and dance radio
airplay, with absolutely no promotion. Just word of mouth. I even heard “I Won’t Change You” on the satellite radio a few times recently. S: “Really?
From “Shoot From The Hip”? I really liked that album.”
D: I loved it. I’ve often argued on the message board how many of the tracks on there are
even better than a lot of what’s on “Read My Lips”. No, it didn’t do as well on the charts, but there are a number of circumstances for that. S: “No, it
didn’t, but then it was a bit aborted – I kind of went off an had my baby. I think also, in a lot of ways it’s actually been quite important that it didn’t
do as well. It makes me more focused for the third one.”
Part 4:
After a brief interruption, where Sophie took a photo or two with the
one or two fans from her home country who happened to be there in the store, we began talking about classic stage shows and movies.
D: It’s been
long reported that “Grease” has been one of your all-time favourite shows. Anything from that you might like to perform live? S: At one time I would have
said “Summer Love” – but now I think its “There Are Worse Things I Can Do”. Rizzo’s lament. That’s a good one.
D: Yes. S: “I did a cover of that
when I was in ‘theaudience’.”
D: You did. I know. We all (the die-hard Sophie fans) have it. S: “A little bit flat” [laughter]
D: It’s been
much discussed and analyzed in your forum. S: [still laughing quite hard] Oh, I don’t think I’ll be looking at any of that [still laughing]
S: “My
voice is better now than it was then.”
D: Sure, you learned to sing since then. You readily admit that you just went out there and did it. Without
really thinking much about it. But isn’t that the beauty of your first band, anyway.. A “punk, DIY” attitude. S: “Yes, absolutely. I think at the time
no one could have told me any differently. I thought I knew what was best.”
D: Moving on the here and now – have you made any decisions as to who
will be in your new live touring band? S: “Good question. Well, Dan there has taken my rhythm section.”
D: In my first piece on The Feeling, I
asked Dan that very same question, and he got somewhat defensive. S: [more laughter]
D: He said ‘they were mine first.’ S: “Oh, really? I’ll
have to arm wrestle him for them”
[DH Note: That thought has stuck with me as something amusing I would certainly like to see]
D: “What about Martin – will he be back as lead guitarist?” S: “I don’t know. At the moment he’s on tour with Mika.
S: “It depends. We’re hoping
to do some rehearsing at the end of November. So if that’s the case, then I think I’m going to have to look elsewhere. But I don’t know. It’s not set in
stone. We’ve got these gigs coming up in December, but they’re not finalized yet. So, we’ll see. If that all comes off then I’ll have to find a whole new
band.”
D: I see. S: “I don’t think it’s very fair for me to say who I’m thinking of, because I haven’t rehearsed them yet.
D: How do you
find potentional bandmates? S: “Word of mouth, mostly.”
D: Do you have record company people to help you with this? S: “No, no. Really, I’ve
asked The Feeling a lot because they all know so many musicians. It’s quite a small community anyway”
D: Do you still live near Islington?
S: “No, we’re around Portobello Market. Notting Hill area.
[DH Note: I knew this. I don’t know why I reverted back to Islington. Clearly I was
having an “Arsenal” moment there]
D: They’re all just names to me anyway, as I haven’t been never been there. S: “You haven’t been to London!?”
[she asked, incredulously]
D: Not yet, not. I know, its ridiculous. Well, maybe for the next Sophie tour. S: “Yeah, yeah. Well that’d be good.”
D: Since you most-likely won’t be playing here any time soon. S: “Well, not unless they want me to.”
D: It’s interesting though. You’ve
been to New York many times. For instance, doing that writing with Moby. S: “Yes. And then I was here for a month last year.”
D: When you were
working with Fred Schneider? S: “Yeah. I did some work with a lot of people as well. I love New York.”
D: It’s a great city. The crossroads of the
world. S: “I do quite like being anonymous here. It’s a perfect city for that.”
D: But when you’re back in London, its very different, I would
imagine. When you’re out and about, are you approached by fans? S: “If I’ve got a buggy, they tend to leave me alone a bit [laughter]
D: Although
I did see the pictures of you, right after you had the baby. Pushing the carriage around with your cell phone in your hand. S: “Oh, yeah.”
D: I have to say, how fit you look. S: “Well, he is two-and-a-half now. I haven’t got much excuse for not getting my figure back after that long.”
D: You said you joined a gym? S: “Yeah”
D: What do you do – aerobics? S: Yes. The reason I enjoy it is because I’ve got a lovely trainer
named Denise and we just gossip through the whole thing. If she wasn’t there waiting for me, I would have given up long ago.”
D: [laughter]
S: “Definitely. It’s not in my genes to keep going to the gym. But, I love my food too much to cut down that way.”
D: At that point, I thanked Sophie
for the wonderful time she spent with me, and went off to meet and chat with The Feeling.
Popjustice, as you should know, is a website as the name might suggest - obsessed with getting justice for pop music. So, when
this month they revealed that they’re releasing a CD with pure pop on it, how can it be anything but good? The answer is, that it can’t.
Over here at
The Hotstuff Files, we’ve listened to it three times now, and can tell you a few things about it.
1. Rihanna and The Automatic, create
a merge for the soul to listen to. 2. Track three involves Girls Aloud’s ‘Love Machine’ demo. This demo is so, so weird that really, you
just can’t say much about it, after having the ‘real’ thing hammered into our heads. 3. Alesha may finally have a chance of a good chart placing,
yet for once, on the album chart. 4. Client are very good. 5. We’re kind of mentioned on the CD - thank you Pussycat Dolls. 6. After ‘Hot Stuff’ by PCD, we get to ‘Chelsea’ by Stefy. This means it is the first release of their stuff over this side of the world.
Hurrah! 7. Despite the transcriber, not being able to spell the Pet Shop Boys‘ song title right, we are sure that we were listening to
‘It’s A Sin’ not ‘It’s Ain’. Who knows? 8. Britney Spears sounds weird these days. 9. Sophie Ellis Bextor is back, and ‘Dear Jimmy’ is
amazingly amazing. 10. The ending with ‘Biology’ followed by a ‘Biology’ remix leads us to believe this may just be the best ending ever for a
mixed CD. Hurrah for Girls Aloud!
And there we have it. The Popjustice CD is possibly the best compilation disk ever, and by the looks of
it we are on bold alert. Huzzah!
Among some comments, you can find one of the Hotstuff webmaster giving more details about Dear Jimmy: "It is amazingly pop. Just the way pop should be, with the obvious influence of the 'here and now' acts such as Lily Allen etc. And of course
the lyrics are brilliant. "Dear Jimmy, what am I to do..." etc."
And just a reminder that you can pre-order Popjustice: 100% Solid Pop
album at HMV and it'll be released this Monday, October 23rd.
29 August 2006
Setting the album straight
"Hello to you all, I'm sorry there's been so much contradictory information regarding the single and album release. I know rumours have been circulating
that 'Catch You' will be out in October and at one point that did seem possible but due to that fact that it took a bit longer to finish the album than
anticipated I can now tell you that 'catch you' will be out in the New Year and the second single (Me and My Imagination) and album will be
out in the spring.
I have filmed the video in Venice with Sophie Muller directing again (she did the Murder on the Dancefloor video, among other
things) and it's come out really well. I've also done the photos for the album and single covers. There's a twist to the pictures but I'm not allowed to say
any more than that!
I know new year seems miles away but it feels like the right moment to come back as it gives me the extra time I need to get
everything just right.
I'm glad you like the Monsoon photos. It's been a gorgeous campaign to take part in. What a lucky lady I am.
So once
again (I know I'm repeating myself here!), thank you so much for your loyalty and patience. I hope you'll like the fruits of my labour when I finally get
back to the showing off part of what I do.
I'll keep in touch, as ever, Sx
PS. "oh, and the album is 'disco pop'. Just to let you know..."
Sophie's husband, Richard, has also commented on Sophie's new album on The Feeling's
Official Blog:
Has you wife (Sophie Ellis-Bextor) got any new music on the way? Richard: "She has actually, and it's brilliant. It won't
be out until next year, but I definitely think it's her best album yet. So, yeah, I've been listening to that!"
