“The Ting Tings... just annoy me so much. Maybe it’s a boy and girl combo, that sort of indie-same-difference bullshit. And it annoys me he wears sunglasses all the time. I imagine it’s to cover his bags ‘cos he’s like, 48...”
Remi Nicole’s indie credentials have been bandied about more than the Kleenex at Michael Barrymore’s house. But last year’s debut LP ‘My Conscience and I’ showed a mature zeal for the multicoloured streets of her native north London; grittier than any of her over-lauded contemporaries. In the past year she’s been globetrotting from Britain to the States via India, doing some growing up while she works on her hotly anticipated return to the airwaves. Amid all this commotion PIMP caught up with the hugely talented songstress and found her an uplifting blend of humility, hopefulness and cynicism.
Hi Remi, what’s the feel of the new album?
It’s quite an emotional album about my character and how I feel about certain things. The lyrics are all about feeling.
So it’s quite autobiographical?
Yeah, well a lot of the songs on my last album- a lot of what people said- was that it was all about me. Actually a lot of the songs on the old album were about other people and their personal experiences, not really my own. On this, the songs are much more about my experiences. I think for me, personally, I’ve sort of grown since the first album. I felt the lyrics then were all completely honest and real, but I just wasn’t really comfortable in myself at that point. Now I kind of know where I’m at.
Are there any particular stories that you drew on when you wrote the album?
One of the songs is about when I was in America and the friend I was staying with had gone to work, and she was having a bit of a rough time because she was separated from her husband. And she’s got a kid and he wasn’t there- obviously- and all my friends in America at that point were all ill. And I was sat at home by myself thinking ‘I’d much rather be in London right now ‘cos I can hang-out with someone at least.’ And it wasn’t the fact it was Valentine’s Day, because that’s stupid anyway, but then I thought, ‘alright while I’m sitting here I’ll do some writing.’ And obviously being Valentine’s Day, love comes to your head. And I realised that I didn’t possess any love. I mean, I loved people obviously, but I just realised that love is actually quite a difficult emotion. When it comes to loving another person in a relationship kind of way, I’m a bit out of touch. So I was kind of like ‘shit, I was gonna write a love song and I can’t because I don’t even know what it is.’ So I wrote about that.
Otherwise, did you enjoy it over there?
I think it was good for me to be away. When I’m there I live by the beach - which is amazing- and I think it does a lot for someone, calms you down a bit.
It must help your songwriting as well...
No, I don’t think it does. I think it’s a bit detrimental. In London I can write because there’s always shit going on. And there’s always stuff around, you know. I went for a ride on my bike the other day and I thought I could’ve written a film; there’s so much going on. Whereas when you’re on the beach, you don’t even think of anything, it’s so relaxing. And then you end up writing really happy, I-feel-so-good-right-now lyrics which don’t sound too great.
Do you think it’s better for artists now that the Internet has grown up alongside celebrity culture, so they don’t have to become known themselves before their music gets popular?
I think it can be, yeah. It’s difficult I guess, not a lot of people do it well – i.e have a really really successful album and keep under the radar. But I’ll try my best. I don’t think anyone, if they really looked at the world, would want to be famous.
You don’t want the limelight?
No. But it’s hard because a lot of my friends are in it already, and they find it difficult. But I think there are certain situations you can avoid.
Speaking more generally, where do you see pop music going?
Well I thought last year it was going in quite a good direction. This year I’ve just kind of been listening to the radio and 4Music. And I saw a program that was like the top ten hits or whatever, and Boyzone were on it at number six and they looked really sad, like dancing at 48 or something.
Not a fan of New Kids on the Block reforming...
I loved NKOTB when I was a kid! And the thing is, I’m not anti-boy band because, you know, I’m partial to a bit of Take That sometimes! But I’d prefer (if you’re gonna be a boy band), East 17. At least they were real. The stuff you hear on the radio now is ridiculous.
Do you ever bother listening to the charts?
Well sometimes I do. My friend told me she turns on the radio just to get angry, to get a bit of fire in your stomach. So if anything, I just listen to it for that! But I know that not all music needs to be deep and meaningful, and I’m totally happy with that. But there should be something there...
Anyone you want to name and shame?
The Ting Tings, for example. They’re hailed and I hate them! And I have no idea why, they just annoy me so much. Maybe it’s a boy and girl combo, that sort of indie-same-difference bullshit. I just can’t get my head round people like that. And it annoys me he wears sunglasses all the time. I imagine it’s to cover his bags ‘cos he’s like, 48 as well.
Then there’s the Pussycat Dolls: light sexual entertainment or whatever you’d call it! People like it I suppose but they’ve got a song called ‘When I Grow Up’ and the lyrics are something like ‘I wanna be famous, I wanna be in the movies, something-something, I wanna have boobies’. Why do you put ‘boobies’ in a song?
Back to you then, Remi! What’s next?
I have no idea. If this album isn’t successful, on one hand I’ll be gutted because I’ve created it from scratch - between me and my guitarist. And when we’re in the studio, apart from strings and horns, we’re playing all the instruments. So it’s something that I’m quite proud of. And I’m also putting my heart on my sleeve so if it fails it’s really difficult to take. But I also know I’m happy with it so it shouldn’t really matter. I’m not really writing it for anyone else - I’m going through my own journey.
www.reminicole.com
|
