THE SEA - MELANIE C.

Who doesn’t remember the five naughty girls from England, who spiced up Thomas Gottschalk and Wetten, dass..? in German TV? It has become quiet around most of the girls, at least in musical regards. Just one of them made a name as a soloist. And with The Sea, Melanie C. has just recorded solo album No. 5. If her music changed after girl group times?

Ann Kathrin Bronner: Melanie, I have heard your favourite movie is Toy Story. Is that right?

Melanie C.: (laughs) Yeah, I think at the moment I don’t get to see many of the big movies coming out, the more intellectual ones, because I spent lots of time watching movies with my little girl. So, yes, Toy Story is one of our favourites.

AKB: Which would be your character?

MC: Oh my goodness, I have to be Jessie the cowgirl, weren’t I?

AKB: Of course! Do you know how to yodel?

MC: (laughs) I have never yodelled. But maybe, I should try. I need someone to teach me. It could be a new challenge for me.

AKB: Could you imagine lending your voice to a character?

MC: Oh my goodness, I would love to do that. You know when you have like little fantasies and dreams of things to do, I would love to be the voice of an animated character

AKB: And should it be a tough girl, or a cute one?

MC: Oh, I don’t know. I think probably because of how people know me being quite athletic, they think I am a tough girl. I wouldn’t say I’m tough, but a strong girl, of course, girl power. And yeah, maybe it would be fun to play a quite tough character. But, hey, you know what: If Disney Pixar ring me and say: “Hey Mel, we want you if you be the voice of one of Tinkerbell’s fairy friends”, I wouldn’t say no.

AKB: So, the tough Sporty Spice has only been a role you had to play?

MC: No, absolutely not. All of us girls we were all being ourselves. We were individuals; we dressed the way we wanted to dress. And that’s why we were all so different. And I think the way that we were perceived in the media was really the meaning of the media rather than the way that we were we thought we needed to behave. We were just being ourselves. And I pursued all of my passions from an early age: I was dancing and doing lots of sports in school. I think, it was really my childhood that moulded me to go on and really pursue the career that I’m in.

AKB: Is there also like here in Germany existing an early musical education in Great Britain?

MC: Oh, I mean, we live in London. You can do anything, you know. There’s lots of really fun classes for babies and toddlers which are music based. But it’s all very much about socialising and having fun.

AKB: But isn’t music about socialising and having fun anyway?

MC: This is true! It brings people together, it’s a universal language, isn’t it. Music is something we can enjoy no matter what language you speak. So I think music is a very important part of our lives. Isn’t it? The soundtrack to your life.

AKB: Of course! And it is with us from birth until the end. For your funeral, you can even choose which songs you want to listen to. Okay, you don’t listen to it any more, but the others ... Your mother’s a rock singer, so I assume there has been a lot of music around you as a child.

MC: Absolutely. My mom’s a singer, my step dad a bass player. It’s funny because I sometimes rehearse at home. And I had my two guitarists came over to my house. We were playing and I’m singing and Scarlet’s running around. And that was exactly what I used to do when I was a kid. There was always musicians around the house. There was always rehearsals going on in the living room. And it was just normal to me. That’s just happened all through my life really until I left home. So, it’s funny that Scarlet’s life is similar.

AKB: I have the impression your new album is a little bit more rocky stuff, for example the song Rock Me. Is it a tribute to you mother?

MC: Well, I think probably my mom has influenced my musical taste. Because when I was growing up, the first music I listened to was her records, her albums. It has been some rock stuff, but also a lot of soul, and motown. Of course, being from Liverpool, I did listen to the Beatles. I suppose she has definitely influenced me to love music and to love many genres of music. But I wouldn’t say there’s one inspiration on this album. I just love making music and love being able to express myself in many different ways. And I’d say, you know, there is a rock influence on the album. But there is also dance influence, there is more acoustic and quiet moments on the record, there is more atmospheric stuff. Probably it is more electronic in places than I have done before. So I’d say it’s actually quite varied in genres. It’s a pop record, but it has lots of influences.

AKB: There’s a cover of Lass es Liebe sein from Rosenstolz on the album. What is the percentage of your own songs?

MC: Of all the songs on the album, there’s one song which I haven’t been part of the writing team. But with everything else it has been collaboration. As I mentioned that I don’t play any instrument, so I like to work with great guitarists, great keyboard players and so on. And the songs come all from the heart.

AKB: How would you describe yourself the development from album No. 1 to album No. 5?

MC: I think each album is really expressing what’s going on in my life at the time, definitely lyrically. And stylistically, I suppose, as well. My first album, this has been like a moment of freedom. It was so nice to explore different musical styles and to be an individual. Because it was my first solo outing since the Spice Girls. And then, my second album, I was just trying lots of different things again. With my third album it became a little bit more specific and I wanted to go more into the rock direction. And in my last album, I was keen to do something – I think in reaction to Beautiful Intentions – that was a lot more laid back, more singer-songwriter, very beautiful, more ballads. I think I’d just dismissed a huge tall of rock and I needed to change the pace.

AKB: And people love your ballads, right?

MC: Yeah, and I love to perform ballads as well. I had a big break between my last album and The Sea, and it just made me really excited about exploring again and being adventurist, meeting new collaborators. I’m playing with different styles, and I think The Sea is probably more similar to my first album, because it does have so many different elements, if different styles.

AKB: And are you trying to reflect the zeitgeist, or do you try to do something completely different?

MC: You know, I’m trying to do what I feel is best to me. I think there is so many new artists, and there is always a very fashionable sound. At the moment in the UK we have all of the big American pop acts, it’s a very techno sound in pop music. And I mean I love a lot of that, for example Rihanna. But I don’t think that it’s right for me and my voice. Of course, I want my music to sound fresh, and modern, and very now. But I don’t know whether that very young sounding pop is right for me and for my voice. It’s a more mature pop artist, you know. And it’s about just being very true to who you are with an artist. I’m taking elements and what’s happening in the fashion of music, but not being a slave to it.

AKB: To show your personality, it is really important having songs that underline your personality.

MC: Right! You can’t really pretend to be something that you are not.

AKB: And how do you explain your success especially here in Germany?

MC: I have often been told that the German public liked me because I am honest. And that I’m a great performer. My answer to that is: Because Germans have such good taste! (laughs)

NEW ALBUM

The Sea (9/2 in stores)
2011 Warner
EAN 5052498789221

INFORMATION

www.melaniec.net

Source: audiophil.de