OOC: RADIOETTES ARE SHARED WITH ME, MEBEME101 AND WALTON

SUGARSCAPE INTERVIEWS RADIOETTES






Hello girls, can you introduce yourself individually for us?
Lucy: "Hello I'm Lucy Dunn."
Kelly: "Hello I'm Kelendria Franklin but you can call me Kelly. I'm 24 years old and I'm from Kingsbury, London."
Kim: "And my Kimberley. You can call me Kim or Kimmy. Whatever you please. I'm from London as well."

Why did you decide to form a group?
Kelly: "Well growing up, we all had a love for music. I think most people do but for us it was more than that. It was like a passion. I've known Kim since I was like 5 and we attended primary school together. We became close friends and then when we attended secondary school, Kim introduced me to Lucy who was in some of her classes. Immediately we all hit it off and the strongest bond between us was the love of music. I remember we'd come into school each day and be like 'Oh my God, you've got to listen to this song' and we'd be the typical fan girls, our rooms were literally covered in posters, I even had my ceiling covered with them. The girls and I would sing all our favourite chart hits together and to start with it was just for fun but we soon realised that our voices blended so well and that's when the Radioettes were born. Together we'd take part in school shows and perform at local events. We were just teenage girls having fun."
Kim: "I agree with everything Kelly just said. When we were younger and growing up, we both just had a passion for music. And surprisingly, when I first met Lucy she had a thing for music as well. So we just decided to form our own band and we really bonded tightly together and we all became sisters."

You girls have been together for over 10 years, why did it take you so long to finally work towards a recording career?
Kelly: "Like I said, in the early days it was just for fun and we never really wrote any original material. We would just do covers and it wasn't a full time job, it was just something we did for fun. I still worked in HMV whilst paying for my tuition fees, I actually wanted to be a psychologist. Then when we were a bit older, we realised that we were still getting demands. People still wanted to hear us and I remember sitting down with the girls and asking them if the band was something they really wanted to take seriously and after a few talks we decided that we would actually give it a go. We were being paid to perform covers so to write and perform our own tracks would create even bigger opportunities for us."

With the likes of SYNCO taking over the charts and an upcoming G2L and Brown Sugar comeback what will make you stand out from the rest?
Lucy: "Well I think we have a very different sound from most groups today that I think could help us stand out a bit."
Kelly: "We're not 5 stick thin teenage girls. Not that I'm saying anything against other girl groups because I love them and I really like what they are doing but we aren't your typical girl group. I wouldn't even say 'girl group' because we're women, we're grown and mature and we actually know what we want out of it."
Kim: "What will make us stand out from the rest? Well, I'll just agree with what Lucy said and Kelly as well. We all have a different sound from each other. I do love and support the other female groups though."

How would you describe the sound of Radioettes?
Kelly: "It's hard to describe. I would say that it's...'us'. There's a mixture of different genres and I think that it all comes together very well. I would say that the main sound across the majority of the tracks that we've recorded is a very urban sound. It's not dance like most music in the charts today."
Kim: "We just have that R&B touch to our music. Not only that but we just infuse so many different genres and just put it together and that's something I find very unique about us. You'll see what I mean when we release music which will be very soon. The wait will be over soon!"

You girls all come from very different backgrounds and have very different musical tastes. What do each of you prefer listening to?
Kelly: "I listen to a lot of R&B and especially 1990's stuff like En Vogue, Eternal, Toni Braxton and Mariah Carey but I also love straight up pop. Not too keen on all the trance and dance stuff but good old fashioned feel good pop is right up my street."
Lucy: "There are so many different types of music I like. I've recently really started loving Pixie she has a very unique style that I love, her music is amazing but there are times when I'd like to listen to others like Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson even Demi Lovato just depends on what kind of mood I'm in really."
Kim: "I love listening to Mariah Carey's music. My favorite album by her is 'Emotions'. I also enjoy listening to a lot of music by Whitney Houston, Madonna, and Michael Jackson as well. Even some of the new artists that are out today I listen to.

With a variety of musical preferences do you find it hard to agree on what you want a Radioettes track to sound like? For instance, one of you may want a fast paced pop album but another would prefer an urban sound.
Kelly: "Like I said earlier, there's a whole mixture of genres across all the songs we've recorded and there's something there for everyone so we don't find it hard to agree at all. We love the different elements that we all bring and we love the final outcome even more."

Which artists in the charts would you like to work with?
Kelly: "I'd really love to work with Aubrey Mikkel, Chloe, Isaac Lovelock, Mercedes and Pixie. An artist with real edge. I kind of like a raw, quirky feeling to songs. I'm not a fan of all this overproduced nonsense that's clearly been written by someone who's solely out to make money and not interested in real music whatsoever. So yeah, those artists are ones I'd love the group to work with."
Lucy: "Definitely Pixie. I'd really love to work with her she's an amazing artist and her music and style is just so different and I really like that."
Kim: "I'd love to work with Alicia Lena one day. She's incredibly talented and gifted. I'll also like to work with Cassie Valentine as well. She's another gifted artist and I've been a fan of hers since day 1. A few other names that I'd like to work with would have to be that new artist Aimee, Foxxy, and Nadia Berry one day. Hopefully I could one day!"

Which artists could you compare yourselves to?
Lucy: "I honestly don't think it's usually a good idea to compare yourself to another artist I like originality so I don't really know."
Kelly: "Nobody really. I don't think, like Lucy said, that it's a good idea to compare yourself to anyone. You want to go out and make your own mark on the music industry. Also if you set out to be compared to someone there's the risk that you are dubbed a 'wannabe' and just an imitation of an already existing artist."
Kim: Yeah, I don't like the sound of that 'comparison' thing. I'm Kim, that's Lucy, and that's Kelly. We are who we are and we don't want to fall into that imitation category."

We heard that you're working with Dustyn Blue on some tracks. What's it like working with him?
Lucy: "It's amazing, he's such a sweet boy and so easy to work with."
Kelly: "Oh he's just a sweetheart and is really talented. People sort of judge him because 'oh he's in a boy band' and he does seem sort of ditsy at times but he really knows good music and is a songwriting genius. He can write songs on basically any subject from any point of view. He's very diverse just like our music is. Dustyn is also just a little ball of energy, he's so fun to work with."
Kim: "Dustyn is very sweet. We've gotten the honor of working with him and we're all really grateful to be working with him. He's very talented so it's a privilege to work with him."

Is he trying to turn you into a female Weekend too?
Kelly: (laughs) "No, no. We're not one of his projects like SYNCO. He really understands our sound and that's the reason we call him up constantly to come help us with tracks."
Lucy: "No, I don't think so there's already a female Weekend. We don't plan on being that we're the Radioettes and he sees that and respects it."

When can we expect to hear some material from you girls?
Kelly: "Soon. That's all I can say, I'm sorry. Nothing is official yet but do keep an eye out for us because we'll be giving you more updates and exclusives over the next few weeks. I can't say when material will be released or able to listen to as nothing is concrete yet."
Kim: "Yeah, just as Kelly said. We are working hard however and we're not trying to rush anything at all. But again, as Kelly said, keep an eye out for us.

If the music career doesn't take off, do you think you'll just give up and go your separate ways like girl bands have done in the past?
Kelly: "No, we've worked too hard. I'm hoping that it does take off but success isn't everything. We've enjoyed being together since 2001 without any fame and I'm sure if we don't break into the charts we'll still keep on going and keep enjoying it."
Lucy: "I couldn't imagine leaving these girls they're like my sisters if the music career doesn't work out we'll always be friends and I'd be up for sticking with them."
Kim: "Never. We're in it to win it together and I will never part from these angels. I'm just so comfortable around them and for us to part is like losing a leg; which would be vital. Over the decade we've worked so hard together and without these two girls, I would have never even have that drive to pursue a music career. We're in this together and forever!"

What do you girls usually do when you aren't writing or recording?
Kelly: "Even when we aren't writing and recording, we are still always together. You can't actually separate us. We usually plan dates together and each of us always have different things in mind. Lucy will always ask us out to lunch to talk about life and all that good stuff. I'm more of a girly night in person, I love watching movies and eating lots of ice cream and if Kim is organising something for us it usually involves clubs and a lot of alcohol."
Kim: "When we're not writing or recording we hang out together and like Kelly said, we plan dates together and everything. And yes, I do have to organize trips for us to go to clubs and drink alcohol because if we're not doing that, I have to sit down and listen to Kelly talking about her 'fantasies' and what not...."
Lucy: "Pretty much everything they just said"

How often would you say you girls argue? And which one of you is usually the peacemaker?
Kelly: "We argue a lot but it's nothing heated. In fact it's nothing to even do with the band, it's outwith the group. Usually it's silly things like 'I want that boy's number', 'no, I'm the one who should get it' or something like 'We already listened to your favourite song in the car, it's my turn now'. It's more of a silly sister squabbling type thing. I think Lucy is the peacemaker."
Lucy: "(smiles) Yup that's me the peace maker"

What would you be doing right now if you weren't in a girl group?
Kelly: "I'd be at university on my psychology course and out of a job cause HMV's closing down and I'd probably still be working there part time."
Kim: "I don't know. I really don't know. I have to think about this one.... I've gotten so close with these girls that I can't even imagine what I'd be doing right now if I weren't in this band - and that's the truth.
Lucy: Well I'd probably still be trying to make a career in music it's what I really love I've loved it from a very young age and probably always will (laughs)"

At what age did you realise that you wanted to be a singer?
Kelly: "Since I was born (laughs). As a young girl I always wanted to be a singer but as I grew up, even though I was still performing with Lucy and Kim, I thought that an actual recording career was out of the question because I was very focused on my studies and I was always thinking about reality. I wanted a job that I knew I could keep and very little could go wrong with and to be a singer, it's hard because you are only as big as the records you make and if you can't provide music that sells then you are just ditched and out of a job. I think I was around 18 when I sat down with Lucy and Kim to discuss actually taking our band to the next level."
Kim: "I realized that I wanted to become a singer when I found Kelly and Lucy. Singing was always something I loved doing, but Lucy and Kell just gave me that drive to become a singer. They gave me that helping hand that impacted my life tremendously. Before they stepped into the picture, I've always had a passion for music and singing was always something I was interested in. But I just never knew how to work out becoming a singer. Thank God I've met them and we formed this group.
Lucy: "At a really young age I've always wanted to sing for a living I never really thought it could actually happen but it's always been a dream of mine and when Kelly decided to have that talk with us I was just so happy"

What were your families reactions when you told them that this is what you wanted to do?
Kelly: "Oh my family are very musical anyway and they were actually expecting me to do something musical. When we performed at clubs in the early days they were really supportive, I remember my gran actually came to an under 18's night just to cheer us on, it was so embarrassing but you've got to love my gran. I've received a lot of support from my brothers too, they look out for me and make sure I'm happy with what I'm doing."
Kim: "My family were very supportive. After we formed the Radioettes and I told my family, they weren't really surprised with what I wanted to become at all. They always noticed my singing capabilities and in all actuality, I think they knew what I'd want to become when I got older."
Lucy: My mum didn't really pay much attention the first time I told her I wanted to be a singer but I think when the girls got together was when she realised how serious I was about this and she's been nothing but supportive since however my brother thought I was crazy"

Where do you all see yourselves about five years from now?
Kelly: "Hopefully still doing this. I have no intention of giving this up because I've spent the most part of my life helping out with the band and to just ditch a lifelong dream just seems silly really."
Kim: "Five years from now I see myself still being apart of Radioettes with my two fierce sisters and I hope that by then we could be fully established. We've been working hard for a very long time and it's all going to pay off eventually. As time progresses, we're moving up one step at a time and even though it's taking us a while, we'll get there eventually. So five years from now, we all want to have accomplished our goals and to set new goals for ourselves!"
Lucy: "Still with these two lovely girls we've worked so hard and so long and put so much time and effort in to this group I can't even picture myself being anywhere or doing anything else other than being in this group"