Little_Boots

You know, Little Boots wasn't an instant obsession with me.  Her track "Stuck On Repeat" was a bit of slow burner for me personally and whilst most blogs jumped immediately to proclaim her the new princess of electronica, I needed some time to fully soak her music in before I could fully make a sound judgement on whether I liked her or not. 

It wasn't until I heard her album "Hands" a few weeks ago that I finally understood what the craze was all about.  I always turn off too when too many people and the media say I HAVE to like something, so in this case – the proof was in the pudding for me.  I'm truly a fan of the Blackpool sensation as "Hands" is hands-down, one of my favourite albums of 2009.

I caught up with Victoria a few days ago and asked her a few questions I've had in the back of my mind about her music, her collaboration rumors with Pet Shop Boys, the girl vs girl debate and what she thinks about Lady Gaga…enjoy.

Well hello Victoria – where did we catch you today?
Hi there Raj – I'm in Bologna in Italy on my way to Barcelona for the Sonar festival at the moment!

It must be amazing to be yourself now with so much attention to your music.  How does it feel to be Little Boots now?
Pretty good, I'm very relieved the album is finally out and just looking forward to a great summer playing lots of festivals and taking the album around the world.

Your hardcore US fans are really upset that you released "Hands" the album in the UK while only releasing the "Illuminations" EP in America – what was the rationale behind that?
It wasn't my decision but it's because we wanted to do it properly, and America is so big.  It's already been completely exhausting for me trying to promote it for the rest of the world in one go – so I think America at the same time would be almost impossible!  Hopefully in the long run it will be for the best as I'll be able to spend more time over there.

You play the most pecuilar little instrument gadget thingy on stage – it has lights and looks pretty.  What is it and what does it do?  Most importantly, why is it an essential part of the Little Boots show?
It's a Yamaha Tenorion which is a sequencer based on a grid of lights which you can program into patterns of beats and songs.  It's very important to my show because it's so visual.

"Stuck On Repeat" has all the electronic music fans in such a tizzy.  Are you proud of this song?  Give us a little background story on this track…
Yeah I'm really proud of it, it has been very influential as was the first track that appeared online and all the blogs, which started a lot of things for me obviously.

My favourite song on "Hands" is "Earthquake" – tell me about how this song came about…
It was a song Greg and I were working on for about a week and seemed to come together in the very last day and hour.  We layered up a lot of almost Enya-esque harmonies which I thought was funny, it's very epic sounding. The lyrics are not really personal to me as it's about someone else's situation I was observing.

Little_Boots2

Little Boots doing her best Jodie Harsh hairdo…

How did your collaboration come about with Phil Oakey on "Symmetry"?  Was it a secret desire for you to record with such a legend in electronica?
I'm a huge Human League fan so obviously it was a big honour.  "Symmetry" always felt like a duet, then when it came to finding someone my management got in touch and lucky for me, he agreed!  I still can't believe it.

One of our EQ readers would like to know what influence is behind the music video to "New In Town".  It's kind of peciular, yet a brilliant music video though – is that what you were going for?
I wanted to do a music video which reflected the song.  I wrote "New In Town" in LA on one of the first trips there – and I was there alone.  The director had this idea to shoot in downtown LA and focus on characters you don't normally associate with Hollywood, although they are there.  It's meant to be a giant street musical vibe and meant to be fun and in no way offensive to homeless people!


If you are homeless – please don't take offense to "New In Town"…

Another EQ reader asks the age old question…What music is inspiring you lately?
A lot of itala disco, some vintage Kylie, Telepathe, Fever Ray, and of course, Pet Shop Boys!

Why is there ALWAYS a rivalry with females in pop music.  Tiffany vs. Debbie Gibson / Paula Abdul vs. Janet Jackson / Britney vs. Christina Aguilera / Cyndi Lauper vs. Madonna / Duffy or Adele  – Now it's Little Boots vs La Roux.  Why is that?  Kinda silly to an extent?
It is silly and I'm very bored of people trying to make it a rivalry as I think La Roux has some brilliant songs!  I am hoping to see her perform them live this weekend at Sonar.  Saying that, I don't think it's just girls…Blur vs OasisSex Pistols & The Clash??  It's nothing to do with gender, the press just love pitching artists against each other in the hope of getting a reaction!

So there is this massive rumour going around – Are you opening for Pet Shop Boys in the states?   Can you put any PSB collaboration rumours to rest for us…
I would absolutely love to, but as far as I'm aware we have not been asked!

You're probably the most well known person from Blackpool at the moment – Are you proud of being from Blackpool – does your Blackpool roots stay with you everywhere you go?
I would hope so and I'm very proud to be from Blackpool, although Chris Lowe probably beats me with the Blackpool thing!

Are you sick of Lady Gaga yet or do you really dig what she's doing?
I don't really think she's quite a walking piece of art or whatever she says but I think she's good fun and definitely livens ups the charts.

I saw a little YouTube video of you covering Sugababes "Overload" – is that one of you're favorite songs?
Not sure if it's my favourite – but I think it's great!

How is your boyfriend coping with you being the transatlantic pop diva you are now?  Is it hard for both you and him or are you managing?
We do just fine, he's incredibly supportive and understanding – as well as equally busy…I think were both workaholics!  But we travel a lot together and make time to get away from everything whenever we can.

Well that's it Victoria – thanks so much for your time.  Any parting words for our EQ readers?
Hope you like the album!  Kisses.