L-R Annie, Shanie, Nadine, Jamie
We're not going to be the girls miming our songs. We're just going to be real
Duchess are the fierce new girl group that are ready to put their own individual stamp on the music industry. Their first single All The Boyz is an urban track and different to any of the other pop-girl groups that are out there at the minute.
The single is a dance floor call to arms for girls across the land - so if you hear this in a club expect the women inside to show you what they're made of.
"When the girls are feeling good about themselves and feeling confident and ready for a night out, it's about singing along and having fun. It's a bit tongue-in-cheek really and shouldn't be taken too seriously."
That's one thing for sure, the girls are adamant to make known that they don't think All The Boyz want them: "We definitely don't want the girls to think that we're singing it about us. It's for women who are feeling confident and are singing out in the club, with their best friends and having a good time. Not to be taken too seriously."
Duchess is Annie Ashcroft, Jamie Lisa Jacquemin, Shanie Ryan and Nadine Samuels. Put together some 16 months ago, the ladies quickly found themselves without a deal when the original team around them disintegrated.
If you haven't already, you must check out their acoustic performances online as they show that they are able to shine, and in fact blossom without accompaniment.
"We're not going to be the girls miming our songs. We're just going to be real," they insist.
The girls have shown that they've got real determination and drive to succeed in the industry. Once their orginal team dissovled they blagged meeting with a host of the music world's producer elite.
After gate crashing a Black Eyed Peas gig at London's O2, they found themselves backstage, performing a impromptu song for the band there and then. Impressed with what they had to offer, The Pea's suggested the girls work on material with one of their producers.
"I don't know how we managed to creep into the backstage area," says Annie. " We were just quite blatant and walked through security. We thought we had nothing to lose."
Duchess hit it off immediately with Printz Board (responsible for the BEP hits 'Where is the Love' and 'My Humps') so much so that a whirlwind recording trips to Paris and LA bore spirited sonic fruits.
Joseph 'JP' Patterson of MTV, VIBE and Radio 1 gives a glowing report of the girls. He says: "Not only are they pleasing to the eye, but these four ladies can truly sang! Yes, SANG! Duchess are certainly gonna pop a few bubbles when they unleash their strong R&B sound to the mainstream. Each member adds something unique to the band.
"Their harmonising skills are impressive and they can individually hold their own. The future of UK R&B right here."
Duchess are keen to show off their different abilities, as they tell me that their second single is different to the first: "The first single is definitely a clubbing track, this one's (the second single) going to have more of a pop chorus still with a harder beat, but it will show off our vocals a lot more and it's still empowering all of the girls as well."
The girls have been working hard touring with N-Dubz, but are keen to go it alone. You can feel the excitement in the air when they tell me about their secret tour that begins in October - unfortunately that's all they could say at the time. Keep your eyes peeled though, as this is not one to miss.
They finish the conversation by telling me: "We're just going to try and up our game as a girl group." And that much is evident, these girls have got drive and determination. Don't expect them to fall into oblivion, but to rise among the best and come out on top.
Meet the girls.... Small bios of each of the girls let's you get to know them individually as they insist: "We are very four different personalities."
Shanie, a south London girl and survivor of the London 7/7 tube bombings, recently performed as a backing vocalist with Leona Lewis. On bonding with the diva at a series of promotional gigs, it was Ms Lewis who introduced Shanie to the team masterminding Duchess. She has also travelled around the world with X Factor judge Kelly Rowland and appeared as a professional dancer in videos for Jay sean, Lil’ Wayne, Tinie Tempah and Wiley, as well as performing acround the UK with Cheryl Cole.
Jamie, a north London lady has appeared in a number of theatre productions, including the West End showing of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Jamie is also the daughter of Andre Jacquemin , music producer for the iconic Monty Python films. As a young girl, Jamie would hang out with Python team, introducing her into the world of entertainment at an early age.
Northerner Annie, a trained dancer (attending dance school until she was 16) emanates from a showbiz family. Her father appeared in The Bill for five years as DS Geoff Daly, as well as roles in Emmerdale and Coronation Street. Annie was spotted performing acoustic sets around the north of England before joining Duchess.
Hailing from Buckinghamshire, Nadine trained as a dancer, winning a £30,000 scholarship to one of the most prestigious dance colleges in London. Following the upload of a video to You Tube, which saw Nadine offering an impromptu vocal performance, she was spotted by urban Sony artist Talay Riley. Riley recommended her for a place in Duchess and Nadine was forced to make the difficult decision of turning down her highly sort after dance scholarship.
Femalefirst Taryn Davies
The single All the Boyz is released on August 22nd
Tagged in The Black Eyed Peas