- Wed, 2006-11-22 11:01
Two million singles sold, four Number Ones; 5 million album sales including three triple-platinum discs in the UK. More Top 10 singles than the Spice Girls, All Saints, Destiny’s Child or Bananarama, and more Top 10 hits with original songs than any girl group since The Supremes. The first girl group since the 1980s to release more than three hit albums – trouncing Destiny’s Child, The Three Degrees, the Spice Girls and The Bangles. Chart success not just in the UK but across Europe, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand.
More impressive statistics than you’d get from your average pop group - principally because Sugababes have never been your average pop group. Over six years, Sugababes have become synonymous with imaginative, cutting edge, daring and effervescent pop music.
I Like Music caught up with newest addition, Amelle, as the band released their new single Easy, upfront of their Overloaded: The Singles Collection album, to talk about joining the band, collaborating with Orson and Gary Barlow being rude.
“I like music because… it makes me really happy and when you’re feeling down it brings you up. I like playing music just before I go out as well.” Amelle, Sugababes
ILM: Your brand new single, Easy is out on November 6th. You teamed up with Jason Pebworth and George Astasio from Orson to co-write it. How was that?
Amelle: It was really good actually, we didn’t expect it. You’ve got to give most of the credit to Orson, because it was originally their idea and they did write all of the lyrics, so it’s more credit to them. We share the management basically, and they just had a few ideas of a couple of songs for us. We listened to a kind of rough idea and we really liked it, and had a few changes, so me and Keisha would say ‘can we change this beat to this bit and we like this idea for the chorus’, and put it all together and we loved it. So we went in to record it and we’re really happy with both the songs, Easy and the second single as well. Having your own thoughts and putting them across and making it your own as well, I think that’s really good, so I really enjoyed it.
ILM: Can you give us your own personal description of the track and its whole vibe?
Amelle: It’s quite a cheeky sexy song and it’s quite Princey as well. It’s basically saying to someone ‘come over here, what are you waiting for,’ almost, one of the lyrics is there is, ‘my engine’s running hot can you come and fix it for me,’ and little bits like that telling a bloke to come to them sort of thing, so it’s more about the man coming to the woman, and she’s trying to bring him on to come over and there’s quite a cheeky feel to it as well.
ILM: Your singles collection: Overloaded is out in November. Of all the tracks on the album which one did you like best as a fan before you joined?
Amelle: I used to really like… well I still do love Too Lost In You and I really loved Round Round when it came out as well. Those two are the main ones that I did like before I joined the band, and Push The Button as well, I loved that one when it came out as well.
ILM: And out of the ones you’ve been involved with, which has been the most fun to record in the studio?
Amelle: These two tracks we’ve been recording now and everyone we’ve been working with, they’ve been done quite separately really, so while Keisha’s in another studio I’m in another one, and Heidi is waiting to come into the studio, and then Keisha comes in my studio and I go, it’s been working out more that way, just purely because of time.
But when we write for the fifth album which we’re already trying to do we’ll have a bit more time and we want to take it really easy on this and really experiment and be able to search for new sounds and take a new direction if we need too. I think we’re going to do quite a lot of writing separately as well as that but then come back together to think up a chorus and think about what kind of beat we want and where we want to go with it. So I’m really looking forward to that as well, just to really get into it and your artistic … get it all out basically.
ILM: Can you describe Sugababes process of making such great and cutting edge pop music?
Amelle: I think even before I was in the band, they’ve just always experimented with sounds, and it’s never been the same sort of music after one another. It’s from Freak, Round Round, and then a ballad like Stronger, to Push The Button to Ugly then to Easy, it keeps the audience wondering what kind of sound the band are going to come up with this time. I think that’s one of the main reasons, it keeps you on your toes a little bit. With some bands you know their direction and only that direction is gonna be another RnB or another hip hop track, so I think that’s definitely one of the reasons.
ILM: Any tips or advice for budding artists starting out?
Amelle: Definitely you’ve got to get yourself a thick skin. And when you’re in it you just learn to anyway, there’s no other way you can handle yourself or survive in this industry. I’ve definitely found that out. Just to be strong and confident and if anyone says anything bad about you or says things about your private life in the papers, you’ve just got to learn you can’t take it personally because that person doesn’t even know you. So screw them, who gives a sh*t about them.
So just carry on and don’t take it personally, you don’t even have to prove yourself. Just carry on doing what you’re doing. Do what you love and do what you think is the best. And I know it’s hard to ignore it and say you can completely forget about someone saying something bad about you, because it does hit a nerve in you and you do get upset, but you’ve got to lift your chin up and just keep going.
ILM: Yeah, because you know you’re doing a good job, so it’s irrelevant what a press critic might say.
Amelle: Yeah.
ILM: You supported Take That on tour and have been headline touring too. What was it like to play alongside the Take That Boys?
Amelle: It was wicked y’know. I really enjoyed it. I remember the first Manchester date, I knew how many people were going to be there, but I just didn’t see it. And me and Keisha went out to go and see Beverley Knight, on the top near our dressing rooms, and I nearly had a heart attack. Literally I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ But once we got out there it was absolutely brilliant and the boys were really nice. Except one! They were just lovely, they came to our dressing room. But one of them wasn’t particularly very nice at all, but that doesn’t matter.
ILM: At least most of them were nice (except one).
Amelle: D’ya know what… it was Gary Barlow, mate. I really don’t care who knows. I gave him the biggest evil of my life anyway. But yeah, he was just very rude to me and I didn’t like it all, just really belittled me.
ILM: You’ve played a special one off concert at London’s Dominion Theatre on 29th October. What’s your favourite Sugababes track to play live?
Amelle: I love performing Hole In The Head, I really enjoy that, because it gives us a chance to have a little dance and that. Round Round, I love performing and Caught In The Moment as well, I love that song as well. In so many ways I love the whole set really and I just love the performing side of it as well. But they’re the main ones that I like.
ILM: What’s the best and worst habit that Keisha and Heidi have?
Amelle: Well Heidi is a very easy person to talk to if you’ve got any problems. She’s a very sweet and loving person. If you’ve got something on your mind, she’s a very easy person to have a chat with and she’ll tell you straight. I don’t really know what her bad points are really.
Keisha takes too long sometimes getting ready, that’s the only thing I’ve got on her. But the good thing about Keisha is she’s one of the funniest girls I’ve ever met. She’s a bit like me as well, we’re quite similar in our characters, but not totally. We’re both quite loud, quite weirdos… we impersonate people, maybe we are a bit weird.
ILM: You’ve got the same sense of humour then?
Amelle: Yeah, that’s what it is. Definitely. She has me laughing so hard sometimes, so yeah, she’s definitely a funny person.
ILM: Have you met Mutya? And do you know how she’s getting along?
Amelle: I met her on the very first CD:UK I ever did with Heidi and Keisha. She came down to say hello and wish me luck and that. It was really nice to see each other actually. She was quite interested in me, what I’d be like, and me the same with her. So it was just really nice to have a chat and see what she’s going to do soon and about her baby. It was just really nice to see the person you’re filling. She’s just a really nice girl and she’s doing her own thing and she’s doing really well at the moment and doing her solo stuff.
It’s just nice for myself knowing that nobody got chucked out and there’s no bad blood or there were no arguments, because that’s why I just feel really comfortable and she does with me. And it’s all worked out how everyone wanted it to be.
ILM: And the fans have totally accepted you. You slotted in perfectly fine.
Amelle: At first I thought they’d be chucking things at me and stuff. I really did, but surprisingly they haven’t so…
ILM: Can you describe your favourite place on earth?
Amelle: New York or somewhere in the Carribean. If I wanted to chill out I’d definitely go somewhere chilled like Dominican Republic, where I’ve been before, and I absolutely loved it there. But definitely New York, I just love the hustle and bustle, there’s always something to do, somewhere to eat. I just love the whole lifestyle of New York.
