SoundGirl
SoundGirl is a London-based pop, R n' B trio made up of Little Nikki, Izzy B and and Olivia.
Working with the people behind Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Beyonce, Cheryl Cole and Fergie, you can expect to hear a lot more from the SoundGirl over the next few months.
We caught up with the trio before they played at Chipmunk's 21st Birthday gig.
-For any of our readers who aren't familiar with you yet, how did SoundGirl form?
Nikki: Izzy and I went to school together, Olivia went to my older sisters school so that is the way we met.
-What challenges have you over-come since you started?
Nikki: Losing our voices on stage, on tour with Pixi. Izzy was losing her voice and Olivia was ill and then in the middle of the song my voice just went and we were just like...oh damn, but somehow we held it together.
I think we had to overcome the fact that we can’t just talk and sing all day every day and expect our voices to last.
Olivia: We needed to warm up as well because it was cold, we all had minor colds as well, and I guess what we did.
We literally strained through the whole performance trying to get something out, but we got through it. It sounded ok, we all had husky voices. There was a bit where no one sang.
-Who are your influences?
Izzy: Everyone really! Particularly - Rihanna, Beyoncé, Maria Carey, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran. We went to his album launch in Finsbury.
-Your debut album came out this month. How's the reaction been so far?
Olivia: There’s a whole range of different songs because we have a bit of reggae on it. Our first two songs were quite upbeat but then our next single, 'Planes in the Sky' is quite an acoustic track. It’s quite raw.
-Tomorrow, you'll be joining Chipmunk for the indigO2 show. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Olivia: It’s a completely free gig. You can actually get tickets if you spend more than £10 at any BestBuy store nationwide. Visit bestbuy.co.uk/chipmunk for more information. It’s a cheap ticket and it’s going to be a lot of fun.
-Are there any nerves ahead of that show?
Izzy: Always. We always have butterflies. It’s a good thing, it kind of gets you scared and then you go on.
Nikki: We have a little ritual - always either jump or run before we go on stage on the spot. Then a tight hug. Once we’re out there we’re always really excited and just have fun and give a little smile at each other when we’re dancing like ‘yeah we’re good.’
-How's work going on 'Planes In the Sky'?
Nikki: Well we’re filming the video for that next week in London so it will have quite an urban feel to it.
Izzy: It will be very different to our other videos because they’ve all been in other countries. I think it’s good that we’re doing a video in the UK because a lot of people don’t think we’re British, everyone thinks we’re American, so this will show we’re London girls.
-What's the track like?
Izzy: It’s quite a sad song, it’s quite raw as well. It’s very emotion driven, quite acoustic, It’s got a guitar the whole way through.
Olivia: There’s not a massive production on it, but that’s what makes it. You feel it. It’s a really moody song.
-You're also ready to work on the video. How's that going?
Izzy: Shooting - not too sure yet. Video production companies like to keep things secret till the last minute.
Olivia: It will last a day. When you see a video it’s like 3 minutes but when you actually think how long it took to get all that and then how much you see.
They take loads of takes and then put the best bits together. You can see throughout the day, it starts off all bright and all the birds and it ends up dark. You can see the whole journey.
-What else do you have planned for the rest of 2011?
Izzy: Gigs. The video will come out, and then we’ll see what goes on from there.
SoundGirl are performing at Chipmunk's 21st birthday gig on Thursday 10th November, courtesy of Best Buy. For free tickets spend over £10 in your nearest store or go to bestbuy.co.uk/chipmunk for more.
Female First - Alistair McGeorge (Follow me on Twitter: @AlistairMcG)