Sophie Q&A: "I'm the boss lady this time around"

 

Part 1

 

With the release of Sophie's new album, Make A Scene, just over a month away, we gave her a call to find out how it's shaping up and hear about the new EBGB label. Look out for part two of our chat soon.

 

Hi Sophie, how are you?

I'm good thanks. I'm at Koko filming Koko Pops and the Album Chart Show. I'm doing a couple of songs in a bit.

 

So, the new album is announced! That's pretty exciting.

Yeah, the whole thing is exciting. I'm the boss lady this time around.

 

What's your label called?

It's called EBGB's. A bit like CBGB's in New York, but as in Ellis-Bextor Great Britain.

 

Ah, very clever!

Why thank you. I actually used it as the production company name when I did my live DVD way back in 2002.

 

So, you're a businesswoman now.

I guess I am, yes! But only my own business. People have been asking if I'm going to sign other acts, but it's all about getting my record out at the moment.

 

And, from a fan's point of view, they won't really notice the difference?

Not at all. But I get to be involved in everything. Don't get me wrong, I had a wonderful 10 years with Universal, but doing it this way does feel like the reward for the hard work, because there's a lot of things about the traditional record company model that don't really work that well for an artist. It's great to be able to get your own team and do it yourself.

 

Does it mean you're taking a financial risk?

Well, in a lot of ways it's financially beneficial. You have to sell a lot less albums to make a living when you do it this way.

 

That all sounds great.

Yeah, it's really cool. And a lot of people have been doing it this way for a while. Eminem apparently does it this way, and Mumford & Sons made their album on their own label, then licensed it to Island. So it's not a new phenomenon, but I do think we'll see it happening more and more.

 

Will there be EBGB's merchandise?

Well, I am in the process of setting up an online shop, cos I haven't really done anything like that for a while. So there could be.

 

And the album is out in a matter of weeks.

Yeah, it's all coming together now. I can understand why some of the fans were occasionally a little disgruntled that it felt like I wasn't just getting on with putting my album out, but really what we've managed to achieve in the last 12 months is pretty good.

 

And you're happy with the album itself?

Really happy. I got it mastered recently and it's great just hearing it all together. I think it's really cohesive and consistent, and I'm really proud of all the songs. But then I'm probably a bit biased!

 

Do you have a current favourite track?

Well Starlight, which is the single, has always been one I love, just because it's got that wistful, melancholy mood, which I always love in pop music. It's that sort of happy sad feeling. I'm a big fan of that.

 

That song's about halfway into the album - how hard do you think about the tracklisting?

Oh you definitely have to get the whole dynamic of the record so that it works. Some songs just don't work next to each other.

 

Why did you pick Cut Straight To The Heart as the final song?

Because it's epic and dramatic and it's got a really long outro. That's the mood you should be left with.

 

You've got a whole bunch of shows lined up for the summer. Are you looking forward to them?

Very much so. I think the forest tour with Erasure should be really fun. The Feeling did the same tour a couple of years ago and I went along to some of those. It was really idyllic and everyone was in holiday mode.

 

Have you met Erasure before?

I haven't actually. But I'm definitely a fan. It should be really fun.

 

Will you play some new stuff at those shows?

Oh absolutely. I always try to do a good cross-section of the contemporary stuff and then the singles. I try and think what I would want to hear if I was going to the show.

Edited May 5, 201114 yr by Red Blooded Man

Part 2

 

Sophie Q&A: "Everything feels quite exciting at the moment"

 

Here's part two of our exclusive chat with Sophie, in which she tells us about tour plans and a possible new direction

 

So, you've got some shows coming up in some exotic places, like Ukraine and Lebanon.

Yeah, I love the fact that even after ten years I'm still going to new countries and singing to new fans. That's pretty cool, I think. I went to Beirut for a show last year, actually and I was literally only in the country for about 8 hours. Hopefully this time I'll be able to stay a little bit longer and have a look around!

 

Are there more show announcements to come?

Yeah, we've got quite a few TBC dates around the world to add, I think. And I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that we get to play in South America. I seem to have so many fans on Facebook from there, and I'm absolutely desperate to go. I've only managed to be there once before, but I'm always nagging my agent and manager to get me out there again. Hopefully soon.

 

So, Starlight is the new single, how would you describe it?

Well it's a kind of mid-tempo, '80s electro ballad. I think of it as the kind of song you hear in a club when the play a few slowies and you're maybe snogging someone.

 

Ah, what they used to call "the erection section".

Hahaha! That's classy! But, yeah, I made it with Richard X and Hannah Robinson. Richard is very, very talented - his production is lush. And I've done loads of stuff with Hannah. I think we've got a very similar approach to top line melodies. We work really well together.

 

Will there be a video?

Yes, I filmed the last show of the tour I did before Christmas - the one in London. My dad actually filmed it with his crew, so we've been editing that together with some other bits of footage. It's looking good. It should be out within the next week or two.

 

Did you enjoy the UK tour?

I absolutely loved it. It's something I'd been meaning to do for a long time. And without wanting to blow my own trumpet too much, I think the band, the lighting, the sound and everything was really great. I felt so secure on stage. I'd just like to keep gigging. We're in such a brilliant position as a live band.

 

You're certainly still working hard.

I don't think I have an alternate setting, really. If anything, the time when I maybe got a bit blase was at the beginning when everything was coming really easily. But now, I adore it and I've got a passion for it and I understand what it all means. For the last five years I've tried to do everything to the best of my ability, rather than coming out thinking, "Oh I wish I'd tried a bit harder".

 

And you still enjoy it?

Totally. Probably more now than ever.

 

You've got a duet on the new Feeling album.

Yes, which I sang the other night at their Heaven show. That was a really good night. Roisin Murphy came along and sang her song with Dan. And I really enjoyed doing the song I've done with Dan. I think it's a very classy, atmospheric and, again, slightly sad-sounding song. It's funny because the mood of the song is quite intense, and I have to get myself in a certain frame of mind when I'm singing it.

 

It also means you're singing a love song to another man while your husband watches.

Yeah! We're just all kind of kinky like that. Hahahahaha! Singing a love song to a gay man while my straight husband looks on. That's the way we roll! Hahaha!

 

We also hear you've started on album five.

I have made a start, yeah. I've probably written about four or five songs. It's quite a different direction, which has been quite good for my head. There's nothing dancey about it.

 

Wowser.

Yeah, so I've been working with Ed Harcourt and Bernard Butler. It's all a bit more songwriter-y, stripped back and live sounding. There's not a synth in sight. I think that's why this fourth album is so dancey, because I've always had a bit of an idea that the one after it should be diametrically opposed. So that's where I'm at right now.

 

That sounds very intriguing.

Mmm. The dream would be to release it with a remix album of the same songs. That would be amazing. But, yeah, everything feels quite exciting at the moment. It's great.

Edited May 5, 201114 yr by Red Blooded Man

It looks like there won't be a brand new video from Starlight as she indicates only bits and pieces of her tour would come together to form the video.

Ooh nice that the video is gonna get out soon. I'm glad to hear this way it's more financially beneficial because I actually worried about that for her.

 

I admire her so much. Good to hear the 5th album is a completely different direction.

Whether she will ever get her fifth album out is another question, she may well end up where Natalie Imbruglia ended up after Come to life.