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 GEMMA URIE CHATS TO DJ NICK GRIMSHAW
"I want people to see that I am a lot more than just another blonde pop bimbo. I'm one of the hardest-working people I know, and I know I can prove myself to be worthy of the chance I've got." Well well well look who just walked into the studio here. It's my lovely guest who we are gonna have a word or two with after the next track. Gemma Urie from Lashes is just putting her headphones on...give her a little second. Hi Gemma, and welcome along to Radio One Breakfast show. You're looking fabulous for such an early time in the morning.Awwww you're so sweet, Grimmy, thank you babes. You don't look too bad yourself, very stylish. As always. I love the cardigan you were wearing earlier.What can I say? A guy who sits in a studio all day has to look good for the no cameras, right? (Laughs) Anyway, Gem, you sit back and get yourself a cuppa and a custard cream, we're gonna play another song right now, and I mean this really was bad timing that this came up on my playlist when you came in..Is it her? (Laughs)Honestly, I didn't set it up at all. It just came up on me screen here. Put your fingers in your ears if you want and I'll give you a nod when we're ready. Anyway, don't go anywhere, cos I'll be back in..oooh.....3 minutes 14 seconds to speak to the radiant and beautiful Ms Gemma Urie. First though, let's hear the new track from a bit of a controversial young lady. This has been huge on the texts and tweets all week, it's Suzie and Dance With The Queen.Suzie's new single plays out over the radio as Grimmy goes quietAnd we're back! That was Suzie, of course, inimitable as always. However, in perhaps some of the most comedic timing of a track being played ever, I've been joined in my boudoir of a studio by the one and only Lashes singer, Gemma Urie! Yayyy!Yaaaay! Hi Grimmy. It's great to be here. Seems so surreal though when I was looking at all of the photos of like top stars you've got out there, and now here I am. I am totally honoured to be here, babe. it's great to see you again.And yourself. I don't think we've spoken since.....oooh...it must have been that last Fans Choice Awards innit? That were a while back. Now first things first, and we can't really ignore the rumours that have been flying around...big rumours...are Lashes done with?(A few moments of silence followed by a clearing of her throat and a long deep breath) Yes. Wow, it feels kinda wonderful to say that at last. Radio One exclusive right there for you, honey. But yeah, I can confirm that Lashes did split up, just last week. We've been keeping it between just us and Brit Knox and trying to decide who gets naming rights in the future if they want to keep the band going or reform it.
Wow....and is that something you'd be likely to go for? Reuniting it or continuing it, I mean?No no no (laughs) Believe me, that part was not for me. We were working out if Star Factory should keep the name or if Natalya or the girls should have the chance to do what they want with it. Personally, I had to walk away. There were two big characters in that group in me and Nat and there was no way we could continue to work together as members of the same band. (She sighs) Arguing with someone day in, day out just gets exhausting and a time came to be mature about it. I just held my hands up and said I was going to walk away, and then the rest of the girls decided to call time on the whole band.With all the turbulence that came with the band, are you glad that you had the chance to be in it, or is it something you regret?Oh I definitely don't regret it. I got the chance to learn what the music industry is like, and I got the chance to perform in front of thousands of people every week on Star Factory. I don't think anyone can deny that for a while at least, I and the rest of the girls were blessed. I also found out that to be a musician or a singer, I had to add that because I know Twitter will be alive with the sound of people telling me I'm not a musician; but yeah, I realised the hard work that goes into music. Myself and Brittany Knox would spend hours each week discussing a lot of different aspects of performance for one song, so I gained a lot more respect for everyone who works in this industry from the few months I had in Lashes. What I do sort of resent is the fact that Lashes was almost 100% me and Brit behind the scenes. I mean, I know Nat liked to be the face of the band out there at the front, but she was never present at planning and discussions, and if anything, it's made me weary to do the whole "band" thing at any time in my career again. I feel that carrying people doesn't help with my own performance, and a lot of time in Lashes was spent having to chase up and teach Nat everything was not at all ideal. So what's next for you now that your career in Lashes is over?Oh gosh, Grimmy darling, big things. Big things. I actually have many things in the pipeline. I've spent the last few weeks actually interacting with Scott RH over at Chaos Records about a debut single. I loved some of the stuff he has written in the past for like Metallic Swan and a few others, and so I wanted to get the chance to work with him. He sent me the song over this week, and I've been in a studio with James preparing my debut solo single. It's going to be called Precious, and I'm excited. Very excited. I'm hoping that from there I'll have the chance to possibly record more; I'm not getting ahead of myself though, and I'm not big headed, so I think I'll wait to see how the debut single goes first and decide from there. Pressure can be a friend, but it's also an enemy at times, so I don't want to put much on myself if I don't need to.Right, now...I don't really feel great about bringing this up, but there are people texting in saying they want the answer, and you are here; you've found yourself cast into the news in this last week haven't you? What happened in that nightclub with Suzie?(Gemma chuckles nervously) Ummm....so, I wasn't ready for this, maybe I should have been, though. Okay, well, yeah, it was very disappointing that it came to that. I swear I am not a violent person, but Suzie really knows how to press someone's buttons, and she definitely wanted to get me going for whatever reason; probably because she's Natalya's friend, and the split in the band had happened by then. I had had a drink because I was celebrating with me friends the fact that I'm a married woman. It was the first time I had seen some of them since James and I tied the knot, and it was a nice night, until she came over and started claiming to have slept with James. I should have been mature enough to know that she was lying and just walk away, but I took the bait, and I'm not proud of that. I suppose I'm not used to the fact that as "celebs" we have a bit of a target on our backs, and I need to learn how to calm myself. I woke up with a sore face and a pained pride. But I can promise I won't do anything like that again in future; I don't want to get the wrong sort of message out there about myself.Speaking of your marriage, and you must get this all the time, is it real love? There are a lot of rumours that it came around very quickly.Don't look so embarrassed to ask me that Grimmy, love (laughs). Seriously, if anyone thinks James and I are under any illusions about the fact that our wedding will be seen as weird, then they are mistaken. We know how it must look and we know people must think that we dived into it, but we've all heard of love at first sight, yeah? We met on the Star Factory set, and we just clicked quicker than with anyone else I have ever met. I know that we might have some tough times to come, and we know that we don't know everything about each other yet, but we know we love each other and that we want to spend our entire lives together. Oh God, I sound like such a cliché don't I? (laughs). But yeah, we are in love for real, and I guess we just have to see if we stand the test of time. I wanna go back and talk about Star Factory a bit if you don't mind. The new series is coming up soon of course, and a new crop of contestants will be looking to grasp the attention of the world's fans. You guys were well known for being rather eccentric and sexual; was that your own choice or was it pushed on you?(Laughs) A bit of both, yeah. We came together kinda last minute, and we knew that having something unique was important, and together we decided that we should look at some sort of burlesque thing. It was kind of a niche in the market, and it caught people's attention, so I can't say at all that we were wrong to do it you know? At the same time though, we were never discouraged from doing it by the producers and our mentor. Brit is a clever clever lady, and I think she knew that it would be a good way to let people remember our name.And it might be why you caught your husbands eye!HAHA! Oh my God, you could be right! It's probably just as well I kept all of the costumes after the show finished then! I might give James his own little personal one quarter of Lashes show when I get back home to LA. Then that is one lucky lucky man, right there. Again on Star Factory though; these shows get a bad name from a lot of people, but what was your experience of the show?It was wonderful. I know these kind of things have their detractors, but so many people got behind it, and behind us, and it was just wonderful fun. Like I said earlier, as well, it let me see what it's like to be in music. It almost doubles up like some sort of music college where you learn all about the industry, and a competition obviously, which is the way it should be, It doesn't just cast people out of the other side and into the abyss. It prepared us all I think. It was a place where I was able to make friends too. Maybe not in my own band, but I got to know Brit really well, and others like Casey, who was brilliant, Kelli O'Day who has a fantastic voice, and little Ashley Grimmie, who might just be the sweetest girl I ever met. Without the show, I would never have had the chance to meet any of them.And do you now feel you want to distance yourself from the show, now that you're done?It's a tough one in some ways. On one hand, I don't want to always be seen as Gemma, the Star Factory alumni, but at the same time, I'm a great believer in never forgetting where you come from. People should always respect their roots, because your start is where the essence of what you are is created, no matter how you turn out. So there will always be a bit of Star Factory with me, without a doubt, but at the same time, I will be looking to show who I am as myself. I want people to see that I am a lot more than just another blonde pop bimbo. I'm one of the hardest-working people I know, and I know I can prove myself to be worthy of the chance I've got.You worked closely with Brittany Knox, how do you see that relationship going in the future?I'd like to have the chance to keep working with her if possible. She taught me so much, and I'll always be in debt to her, but we haven't had the chance to sit down and talk about it yet. If the chance comes up though, it would be fantastic to work with Brit again.Obviously we released her song Leather Love as our only single, and that lets you know how much of a fan I am. The girl is fantastic, and she's always an idol of mine. Such a sweetheart too.You mentioned a new single earlier; tell me about that, what's it gonna sound like and what should we look out for?It's a really great sounding pop beat. It's like a sort of dance song come pop. It's got that crossover element that I love, so that it works in the mainstream market wonderfully, but it can also be played in clubs and stuff. That new girl Pixie executes the crossover really well...as does....Suzie and people like Serenity Scott, and I think this does it too. The song's fun, it's bright, it's got attitude, and I hope it'll stand out. It'll be available for download and airplay from November 18th too, so I hope people get behind it and...well I just hope it makes a good impression really.Sounds good. Now, you've become a bit of Ca-li-fornia girl of late, but you're back in England for a while yeah? How long are you back for?Hahaha, yeah I have. I so have. I'm loving the sun and the bikini weather, and it's so different to what we have here. At the same time though, it's good to visit home for a bit like now. James and I are in England for a few days, just visiting my family, who we haven't seen since the big day, and then it'll be back on the flight to LA to get working on promo for my single. There will be tears when I have to leave!Awwww I'm sure there will be. Well listen Gemma, it's been fantastic to speak to you. Thank you so much for coming in this morning. Before you go though, you've selected a song for me to play up next. So I'll let you introduce it. You're such a sweetheart Grimshaw, and thanks millions for having me. It's been such fun! Anyway, yeah I chose this song because this is a guy who is making waves in the industry at the moment, and he's bringing out a genre that I feared would be lost. He has done it so well too. This one is by one of my favourite young artists at the moment, and it's For the Night by Kato!What a choice what a choice. Ladies and gents let's hear it for my beautiful and fantastic guest Gemma Urie! Wooooooo!The sound of the two voices fades before Kato's For The Night starts to play over the radio.Edited by user 09 November 2012 07:50:33(UTC)
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