Ella Montclare looks set to take the music scene by storm in 2009 with her new record, Between Islands, and with Dr Dre, Julio Eglasias and Babyface amongst her celeb best mates, as well as being number one in the MySpace Trip Hop charts for over a year, is there little doubt?
Ella Montclare
As a mixed race woman contending with racism from blacks and whites, her music reflects the personal challenges she's faced throughout her career, I caught up with the lady herself to find out just how great she really is.
Hello there pretty, how are things going in your lovely world?
I’m rehearsing with my band, getting ready to go on a UK tour -yey! I’ve sung backing vocals since I was a teenager, for other artists like Babyface and Dr Dre. To tour with my own songs will be a lifelong dream come true.
To anyone who hasn’t heard of you yet, how would you describe your sound?
Trip-hop beats and vocal sweets confess soaring tales of love and melancholy. Someone more sensible than me described it as Portishead meets Dido meets Prince. Quite a threesome haha.
Tell us a bit about the inspiration behind your foxy new record…
Between Islands is very personal to me, because it’s about my cultural back ground of English, Caribbean and Spanish. Genetically speaking I’m between islands, although I thankfully live on dry land. It’s also about the sense of yearning I think we all have for somewhere to belong.
We shot the video on the north-east coast of England where I grew up. A deserted bay with black sand and grey sea breaking against rocky cliffs, where I used to play when I was little. There was something cathartic about coming home to the place of my childhood after years of travelling to film the video.
If you were going to give us just one song of yours to listen to so that you would become our new favourite singer, what would it be?
I Surrender –it’s about a modern woman’s dilemma. Unlike my mother’s era, women now seem to have a Sex in the City scenario, where we’re taught that we should prioritise career and materialism over old fashioned ideas of love. The song is about the dilemma of meeting a man you would like to surrender to, clashing with the idea of wanting to be a strong independent woman.
If you could cover another musician’s song, what would it be?
I just recorded a cover of ‘Friday’s Child’ by Nancy Sinatra in Edinburgh.
And can you sum up your good self in just five words?
Dreaming. Misfit. Wistful. Growing. Chocolate.
I love chocolate! And what makes you stand out from the crowd?
My chubby cheeks. And also, the way I mash it up. My music seems to have grown organically into a unique mix of all my influences and travels. People seem to hear everything in there from trip-hop, to folk, to R&B, to hip-hop, to dance, to pop to rock. Bring it on I say, there’s something beautiful about being inclusive.
You know we’re having a bit of an economic crisis here at the moment, if people wanted to spend their last £10 on a cd this weekend, why should they buy yours?
After one spin, they will be able to get anyone they want to fall in love with them. Failing that, chill to the freshest sound coming out of the UK this year.
What three bands would you have to headline your dream festival?
Kate Bush, Portishead and Bjork
What has been your favourite musical memory to date?
Getting to number one on the MySpace trip-hop charts. I originally put my music up there for my friends to listen to, hoping to get some general feedback. Now I’ve had over half a million plays and I’m talking to over 30 thousand friends about my songs.
Although it takes a couple of hours every day to answer all the messages, I’m overwhelmed with how music touches people and what an amazing way it is to communicate with people all over the world.
Who do you think is the greatest artist around at the moment?
It’s Britney bitch!
If you could only listen to one CD for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Kate Bush: The Kick Inside
Okay, now we want to ask you some random questions;
On an airplane you are talking pleasantly to a person of average appearance. Unexpectedly, the person offers you $10, 000 (£5, 000) for one night of sex. Knowing there is no danger and that payment is certain, would you accept the offer?
Not at that exchange rate.
Name an experience which features an animal that you will never forget.
Life with mankind.
What one thing did you always want as a child but never get?
To grow up.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison