Jem
Jem is hoping that 2009 will be her year as she gets ready to release the follow up to Finally Woken; but does she have what it takes to take on the musical dominatrix’s of the charts at the moment? She certainly seems to think so.
So what’s happening in the world of Jem?
Well I’m here, I’m excited and I’ve been rushed off my feet! It’s wicked!
Tell us a bit about your new album…we’re excited!
Well it’s been a while since my last one, but that was out of my hands unfortunately. So I got frozen for a while by my label so the album was delayed for ages but I’m hoping that if people liked Finally Woken that they will like this too.
It’s got the hip-hop edge but it’s also got different influences; on the last album it was a bit middle-eastern but on this one it’s more of a mix as we have Brazilian percussion and some salsa and some funky banjo and an African singer. I just like to try anything that feels good so we really took this album in lots of different directions
With the dark economic climate that we’re all in at the moment, why should people go out and spend their hard-earned cash on your CD?
Well I would say they should buy a CD above anything else because it would last them for life. I think my CD would stand the test of time longer than anyone else’s and I think mine is the best! Its good for Valentines day presents too!
To anyone who hasn’t heard of you before, what one song of yours would you say best sums you up?
I think I’ve had the best reaction from my first single They because I also think there are a lot of people who think they haven’t heard of me then they hear that song and think “I do know her!â€
You’ve also had quite a lot of your songs featured on various TV shows and the Sex And The City film; how does that make you feel?
I feel really lucky to be honest. I’ve had so many of them and even last night I had the closing track on 90210 and by brother has the closing of the first hour! So it was really cool and it never fails to excite me when something like that happens.
I know they have millions of choices; especially with Sex And The City where everyone wanted to get their music in the film. So I definitely feel lucky about it and I hope it continues.
Who do you think is the best artist around at the moment?
I’m in America a lot recently but I would say that I really like the M.I.A track Paper Planes. I think it’s a really good track and I played it in my DJ set on New Years Eve.
If you could only listen to one CD for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Don’t be crazy! That’s a crazy question! I think off the top of my head I would go for something like Jack Johnson’s third record. It’s yellow, that’s all I know. I never get tired of it, I just can listen to it over and over.
Do you think you have what it takes to battle it out in the charts with the likes of Britney, Girls Aloud and Take That?
You know what, I think we’ll have to wait and see about that! I hope so but I also have to say that whatever happens, I do feel like I am in it for the long run, so for me I will take whatever is given to be because I know I will keep making records.
If it’s not a big splash, but if not it will be a slow burn and eventually it will out sell everyone else.
Okay, so randomly, if you won a competition for a box set of movies featuring one actor or actress, who would you pick?
I’d go for Meryl Streep as an actress because she’s brilliant then for my actor I really can’t decide between Harrison Ford and Robert De Niro.
If you were to take over a foreign country; what country would you take over and what would be your first law?
I would take over the occupied territory of Palestine or Israel and I would make a law that said they would stop fighting and sort out the conflicts and like each other because it’s just devastating at the moment.
Thirdly, what has been the most terrifying moment of your entire life?
I think it would be when I was 15 I was followed by a man in a balaclava and it was just absolutely hideous and then he got in a car with another guy with a balaclava and luckily nothing happened and my friend and I ran into some strangers house and hid behind the door.
So finally, we ask everyone we interview to come up with a question for the next person, and Mindless Self Indulgence want to know; are you happy making the same music - integrity wise - as everyone else?
Well I would say I’m happy integrity wise making music that doesn’t sound the same as everyone else! So in their faces!!
So can you come up with a question for the next person I interview please?
What do you do when it’s raining?
Thank you for your time, good luck with the new album.