Sophie Catch Up

Posted November 15, 200717 yr

Sophie Catch Up (14/11/07)

Hello Sophie. Where are you?

I’m in a car. I just went past a house with loads and loads of Christmas decorations.

Well, if you’ve got them, you might as well get them up early.

That’s true actually. Even now, we’ve only got six weeks until Christmas. You might as well get the full worth.

Although, these days, the amount of electricity they use probably makes it a bit wrong.

Mmm, good point. Perhaps they should just put a single candle in front of their house.

Maybe you should turn the car around and knock on their door with that advice.

Or just put an anonymous note through the door. “Your decorations aren’t very good for the planet”!

So where are you on your way from and to?

I’m going home after a day songwriting in the studio with Rob Davis, who was one of the writers on ‘Groovejet’. He’s a lovely guy.

How did it go today?

It was good actually. When I first turned up my brain wasn’t really working, but after a few cups of tea, we got something going.

How do you take your tea?

White with two sugars.

Two sugars?!

I know. That’s a lot isn’t it? But I like it!

So you had your tea, then you sat down and went, “Right, let’s write a song!” Kind of, heah. He had a few instrumental things already and then I suggested a track which we sampled and ten started writing on top of that. We’re going to get rid of the sample, but it’s a way of giving yourself a little inspirational springboard. But everybody writes differently. Last week I was in the studio with different people and we just started things from scratch.

Who else have you been working with?

Well, I’ve done a song with Groove Armada, one with Freemasons and one with Cathy Dennis, so I’ve been pretty spoilt. Groove Armada sent me a really pretty instrumental. I do hope they like what I’ve done with it.

Ah, so you’ve written words to sing on top?

Yeah, me and a girl called Hannah Robinson and a guy called Matt Prime. I’ve worked with them a lot.

How does it actually work? You write a line, then they write a line . . .

No, it’s more just thrashing it out. Hannah and I will just start singing little melodies until we like something. It is quite difficult to explain. But you keep recording ideas and sifting through them until you get something you’re happy with. Then you start going through the lyrics. Most melodies dictate a certain sound, like a consonant here or a vowel there. So you get a basic concept and then take it from there. Sometimes it comes really easily and sometimes it’s really hard work. You might have just one couplet to finish and you’ll be sitting there for hours. It’s horrible when that happens. But when you finish the song it’s brilliant. You feel really euphoric.

How do you decide who gets what percentage of the songwriting credit?

It’s sort of a goodwill thing, really. You split it equally between whoever’s in the room. You just all chuck ideas in. And, to be honest, when you finish a song you can very rarely remember who’s done what anyway. And also, there might be someone in the room that doesn’t do that much, but the things they do are really crucial. Even if they’re only saying, “I’ve been listening to what your doing and that bit of lyric doesn’t quite make sense”.

Give us a shout if you ever need anyone for that role.

Ha, ha! OK, will do. to be honest, I used to be a lot more shy about the whole process, but I realise now it doesn’t matter if you say something silly or an idea doesn’t work.

Are people quite forthright with their opinions, or is everyone trying to be quite polite?

Well, you have to be diplomatic. When you’re doing something that is quite a vulnerable process, you don’t want to be too damning. It’s really easy for the atmosphere to turn ifyou’re not supportive. So you have to just say, “Ooh, I like what you did there, but I’m not sure about this bit” or whatever. It’s all about constructive criticism.

As the artist, do you get the final say?

Yeah, totally. And I’ve got better at that as well. I used to be a lot more polite and halfway through the day if I wasn’t enjoying it, I’d just think, “Oh well, I’ll finish it anyway”. Now I’m better at saying, “Y’know, this isn’t really working for me, let’s try something else.” It’s hard to get confident enough to do that, but it’s really worth it.

It must be hard to keep perspective on a song when you’ve heard it over and over in the studio.

Yep, that definitely happens. Sometimes you just need to sleep on it. Or even just having a little half hour break where we have a chat or a cup of tea and talk about something completely different. Just to give your brain a rest.

Do you find words or melodies easier?

Oh, melodies. I find words really tricky. Melody feels more finite, whereas lyrics feel like they have a billion possibilities.

Are you still just doing two new songs for the greatest hits?

I think so, although I’m actually really happy with what’s coming out of the sessions, so some of it will maybe go towards album four. It’s really exciting actually. I’ve really been enjoying myself.

Are you nearly finished?

Well, I don’t think the deadline is until the end of the year, so I might try and sort out a few more sessions. There’s a little more ink in the pen yet.

And you’re back out with Take That on Thursday.

Yeah, so that’s gonna be fun. The rest of the year will fly by.

Did you get your Chirstmas shopping done?

No. I’ve got ideas for the main people, though. Although I still need to think of something for Sonny’s nanny. We always want to get her something thoughtful because she does such an amazing job.

You were in Russia again last weekend, how was that?

I went to two places this time, Krasnodar and Moscow. But it was a pretty killer trip. There are no direct flights to Krasnodar, so on Thursday night, we flew to Moscow. We landed there at 2 am and then we were supposed to get a 4.20am flight to Krasnodar. But it was delayed for three hours, so we didn’t get to the hotel until about 11am. I got a bit of time in bed, then I had to be up to do a press call, then a soundcheck, then the gig in the evening It was pretty exhausting!

That doesn’t sound like much fun.

No, it wasn’t really. But, Krasnodar was lovely and the people were really warm and the gig went well, so it was worth it. And then I flew over to Moscow to do a club gig. I as on stage at 3am, which was a bit testing. But my dad came along for the trip, which was nice. he stayed in Moscow while we went to Krasnodar and saw all the tourist sights. He had a great time. Sadly, I didn’t have a chance to do any of that sort of thing.

Have you had any relaxation time in the last few weeks?

Actually, Richard and I went out on a date night, which was lots of fun. We went bowling at the new bowling place underneath Whiteleys in London.

Who won?

Richard. But not by that much. And the DJ at the bowling lane was playing really good stuff, so I was quite distracted by that. They do cocktails too. It was really good fun.

Have you been up to anything else?’

Um . .. well . . by brain is a bit fuzzy. So many things happen and I always think I should talk about them in these chats, but then I forget. I need to start keeping a list! Oh, I went to see a Mark Ronson gig, which was good. It was a lot more soulful than I though it would be. But I sat on the balcony at Shepherds Bush, right next to the speaker and I pretty much made myself deaf. We went to the bar afterwards and I couldn’t really hear what people were saying. I suppose I really should start wearing ear plugs. Oh, and I should tell you that I don’t want to get in trouble with the Spice Girls.

Why’s that?

Well, I was out at a do and I was talking to a journalist who asked what I thought about them getting back together. I said I’d quite like to go and see them live, because I always liked what they do and they’re great pop stars. Then she said, “What do you think of the new stuff?” and I said I thought it was quite funny that in their new video they were signing about friendship in their underwear. I was just trying to be funny, but she pulled that bit out and made it sound like I’m starting a fight with them. But I really wasn’t being nasty. Problem is, jokes can look like they were serious in print. And if they have a grain of truth, the can then embellish it. But there’s five of them and only one of me, so I don’t want to get into a fight!

Sounds wise. So will you take some pictures of Take That backstage for the website?

Ooh, good idea. Yes I will.

Backstage shots of Mark Owen with no pants on, perhaps.

Ha! You know after the gig they get into a bath filled with ice? They hop in for about 30 seconds. It’s supposed to stop your muscles going into spasm or something.

Have you hopped in with them?

Actually, on the last gig I did with them, in Belfast, Gary went, [bad northern accent] “Are you cummin in for a baff Surfy?” I’m sure there were some women out front who would’ve loved that invitation. But I declined.