Alex from Stooshe chats to us about their new single, Lock Down.
It’s been two and a half years since the release of your debut album, what have you been up to? Where have you been?!
Well, it doesn’t feel like it’s been two and a half years because we’ve been working so hard, rehearsing, recording, singing together, and getting to know each other. It’s all kind of built up to this point now where Lock Down is finally coming out soon, so we’re just ready for you guys to hear it and we hope you love it as much as we do.
Tell us a little bit about the new single, Lock Down. Who did you work with on it?
A producer called Detonate, who’s worked with Labrinth and Conor Maynard. He sent over the track, and he had it all ready, but we co-wrote and switched up the lyrics to relate to our story and what we’ve been through during the past two years. It’s about breaking free and overcoming hurdles. Whatever your circumstance is in life, it’s about breaking free past that and then doing what you want to do, and ultimately being happy at the end of it.
We worked with Damien Sandoval on the video in LA, and he was literally amazing to work with! So it’s all kind of come together in its little slots and we’re really happy with the outcome.
Yeah, I was watching the video earlier, and it’s some sort of huge big budget hollywood movie condensed into three minutes, it’s great.
Thank you!
You did that over in LA, tell us about working there. That’s like a dream come true surely?
Well, I should say, we started off in Portsmouth...
Not quite as glamorous then!
…but, it was a sunny day, so we were grateful.
So, it starts in Portsmouth, then we escape the prison and end up on the sunny streets of LA on the run from the police. Then there’s Don Benjamin, from America’s Next Top Model, he captures Karis. She lures him in, and then we save her, and end up in the desert to get away. It was literally the most amazing five-day shoot!
Was that your favourite out of all the music videos you've done?
Definitely! Without a doubt. There was such a good energy and such a good vibe. Damien had such a good vision. He put our vision to film, and put even more in.
Is it heavily influenced by Orange Is The New Black? It’s got that kind of vibe about it.
We all watch Orange Is The New Black, and we all love it! So we wanted that influence with a bit of a Stooche twist.
The song its self, it’s got the fun, feisty, kind of Motown vibe that we saw from you guys when you first broke out in 2011. Was that a conscious return to your earlier roots?
Obviously we love where we started off, doing that Motown vibe. It’s been five years though, so we’ve kind of developed into three grown women, and we love the Motown influences, but also want to have a kind of R&B/pop vibe with hard-hitting beats, but with our harmonies. That’s what most people know us for, and it’s what we love doing together. So, as long as people still know that it’s Stooshe singing it, then that’s great!
Everybody’s wanting to know about a new album, is there one on the way? Are we going to get that next year?
There is definitely, DEFINITELY, a new album coming out. We can’t give you a single and just leave you guys! We’ve got the new single, and then a new album coming in 2016, hopefully in the middle of the year. And then hopefully a tour comes along with that, because we love touring and being together on the road.
And if you are doing a tour, will you be coming up to Scotland? Are we going to see you in Aberdeen?
Yes! We started off our last tour in Scotland, so hopefully we’ll start off again there. We love our fans up there, they’re amazing.
You played T In The Park a few years ago didn’t you?
I remember that, yes, because we got an early flight at 5am, but I was so tired and wore two different pairs of shoes! I didn’t realise until I got to the airport, and Karis noticed that I was wearing two different kinds of shoe!
On the first album you had a big collaboration with Travie McCoy, which was a top five hit. What about on the new one, any special collaborations on there?
Well we can’t say anything yet, but we’re just working on writing and producing the songs ourself, and then we’ll look at collaborations. We’re working with some great producers on the album, Keith Harris is a Grammy winner, Beatfreakz, and Ghostwriter, who’s just won a Brit Award. So we’ve got great producers on the album, and we’re just going to look into the collaborations a little bit further down the line.
Who would be your dream collaborator?
Drake is definitely one! Pharrell is another, and Taylor Swift, I could just reel them off! We just want everyone! But Drake definitely.
You’ve been nominated for MOBO Awards and Brit Awards, but what would be the dream award for Stooshe to win?
Obviously we’d want to win every award possible, but I think Best Group and Best Single. We were already nominated for Best Single in 2012 for Black Heart, and that was such a great feeling to be nominated in the same category as Adele and Rihanna, so hopefully next time we are nominated, and hopefully we’ll win an award in one of those categories.
It’s been great chatting to you Alex, thank you!
Alex was chatting to Steve Innes on RGU:Radio. To listen to the full interview, click here. You can hear Steve Innes every Friday from 10am-12pm on RGU:Radio, streaming live from the RGU campus at www.rguradio.co.uk