Shazam Meets… Alesha Dixon
This week sees the release of Alesha Dixon’s latest single ‘Drummer Boy’; it marks yet another chapter in the career of the singer who cut her teeth as the fiery MC in early noughties girl group Mis Teeq. After the group disbanded Alesha signed a major label solo deal, which unfortunately turned sour when the label decided not to release her debut album ‘Fired Up’ outside of Japan. This however did not deter the singer, who carried on working with various producers and building her solo output.
It was during this time that Alesha was offered the chance to appear on the reality TV ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. As a passionate – but never classically trained – performer, the singer jumped at the chance to pursue a lifelong interest, unaware that it would quickly provide a quick turn in fortune. After winning the show, Alesha Dixon found herself back in the charts with her infectious debut single ‘The Boy Does Nothing’ reaching the number one spot in the UK.
Now, as well as returning to ‘Strictly’ as one of the shows judges, the singer has readied her new album ‘The Entertainer’. We found ourselves in the enviable situation of sharing a quiet booth in a bar with Alesha to discuss the album, how she juggles life as a pop star and TV presenter and if there’s any truth in the rumours of romance between her and Tinie Tempah.
‘Drummer Boy’ is the first single off your latest album ‘The Entertainer’, why did you pick this song in particular to kick off the new album?
With this album I had a bit of difficulty about deciding what was going to be the first single, because I liked them all. When people hear the song it takes them a few listens to get it, people have to compute it in their brain. But when Shamrock (producer) played me the backing track, straight away I reacted to it. I’m very reactive in the studio; I always say I’m a person who always works on instinct. Instantly I heard the tune and thought ‘that has to be my first single’ because I felt excited. I have to be provoked emotionally whether it’s exited or moved by something to want to follow it through. That’s how I felt about ‘Drummer Boy’, I got excited. I started visualising the stage show and how it sounded with the band. It sounded like a record that whether you like it or not, you can’t ignore it. I felt the energy of the record suited my character and lyrically where Nate Walker (co-writer) went with it was clever. Yes, it’s got a sexual connotation to it, but at the end of the day it’s about female empowerment. Not in a ‘girl power’ way, but in the way that the girls get to be the boss; it was fun to play that role!
It’s quite a raucous track; can we expect more like this from the album?
It’s definitely the only one on the album that sounds like that, but there are other tracks that are as rich production wise. There’s a track called ‘La La La’ that I did with Busby and I co-wrote that with Alex James, it’s got me MCing on it, it’s got horns, it’s loud… I’ve made my dream album really because it’s very strong, very rhythmic, and tough – what I’d like to do is put on a good live show with it. There’s a track called ‘Baddest Chick’ which is quite tough, quite hard hitting. (There’s) a lot of character records on there, sometimes it’s almost like being a cartoon. But at the same time there’s tracks that are me and really honest, lyrically. I’ve tried to keep it colorful, fun and just try to be true to my character and what’s going on now.
You went out to LA to record part of the album, writing and recording with a wealth of top producers. How was that?
Brilliant. I’ve always enjoyed going out there to work; it used to be an intimidating experience. I’d go out there with the girls from Mis-Teeq and I’d feel secure. The first time I went out to the States on my own, I’d walk into these huge studios and feel really intimidated by the people I was working with. When you look at their CVs and you see who they’ve worked with, you think ‘I’ve gotta impress this person’, that was tricky. But the whole team put together was wonderful, I had Kid Currell vocally producing it and he co-wrote on ‘Single Ladies’ for Beyoncé and ‘Umbrella’ for Rihanna, to have him involved was amazing. Also I came back to the UK to work with up and coming producers here. I think Fairground are gonna blow up this year as a production unit. They’ve already had a hit this year with Jay Sean, but I think they’re gonna become massive. Also Naughty Boy, who’s done Chipmunk and Tinie’s next song. So I think I’ve got a good balance really.
Is the ‘The Entertainer’ the album you’re most happy with so far?
It would be wrong for me to say that, just because each phase you go through is relevant for that moment. When I did ‘Fired Up’ I’d just left Mis-Teeq, so I was finding my voice and my sound. It was almost like being in college, it was a learning phase. Then obviously ‘The Alesha Show’ was a personal record and relevant at the time. With ‘The Entertainer’ it was more of a fun record to make, even though the pressure’s there I’ve been able to do what I want and the fact that I’ve been able to MC again has been a lot of fun. With ‘The Alesha Show’ album there was no MCing, the record company were like ‘people know you as an MC and we want to show a different side to you’, so I had to bite my tongue a little on that one. But now it feels like the right time to go for it; I’m not scared to be risky with this one, I don’t feel like I have to play it safe.
The video features some great mass choreography scenes, since appearing on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ do you feel added pressure when it comes to your dance routines?
You know what; I wouldn’t say it’s a pressure as it’s a passion of mine. I’m always saying to the label ‘let’s work with this choreographer’. I went to the label and said I’d love Rich & Tone to choreograph this video – they choreographed Madonna’s tour; they worked with Michael Jackson – They are insane! So the fact that the label made that happen was really nice. There are so many people out there that inspire me, in terms of dance, and there are a lot of styles out there that I’d like to try. Maybe people expect a certain standard of dance, but I’ve always been honest and said I’ve never trained at dance or went to stage school. That was one of the reasons I did Strictly, I wanted to have a dance lesson with someone. In the earlier days with Mis-Teeq we always made it up ourselves, it was a bit looser. To be trained and have that discipline it’s nice – it’s bloody hard work though. That video (‘Drummer Boy’) was very tiring, so much fun, but physically so demanding; the whole video shoot was 22 hours.
Obviously the show helped you after you parted ways with your previous label. Did you think appearing on the show would inspire such a positive reaction?
I didn’t know what was going to happen, I was going into it quite naïve. I wasn’t worried much about the future, I was just in the moment enjoying it. I was a little bit nervous actually, I’d already started working on the album. I was talking to labels at the time and I was nervous that going on Strictly would hinder me getting another deal. Because in the music industry, there’s a little bit of snobbery when it comes to reality TV. I was nervous as to how it would affect me, but some people presume someone would go on a show like that to get a record deal. Whereas coming out of a group like Mis-Teeq and it being all very organic, signing to tiny little dance labels and being the underdog I know there’s nothing better than something happening organically. But in today’s society, there’s no right or wrong way to get music out there. Anything that’s happened as a result of it (Strictly) is a bonus and I can only be thankful for it.
You’re back on the judges panel for this year’s series, how is it juggling the music side of your career with presenting?
The label aren’t too happy, I’m not gonna lie (laughs). The thing is it’s difficult for me. My first love and my passion is music – I would never do anything to jeopardise it, but at the same time it was such an honor to be asked to be a judge on the show. My argument is, it’s only one day a week. I’m giving the BBC one day a week and Atlantic Records six days a week, so it balances itself out!
You also dedicate a lot of time to charity work, last year saw you climb Mt. Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief. Do you have any similar projects in the pipeline?
Yeah there is actually. I got an email from Gary (Barlow) a few weeks ago. The first time he contacted me I thought he wanted to write with me, but he wanted me to climb a mountain with him! Whenever I get an email from him I’m like ‘oh god, what’s next’, he said we’re thinking about having another, as he calls it, adventure in 2012 for Sport Relief. I can’t confirm what we’re going to be doing, but we’re meeting up next week to get more information about it. In my heart I’ve already decided I’ll do it because Gary asked me. I think it’s important to do things that are challenging. As much as climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro was hell, we released over £3 million for Comic Relief. So if we can do that again for Sport Relief, it’s worth doing. One to tell the Grandkids anyway!
Is there anything you haven’t done in your career that you’d like to? Acting maybe?
I’ve always said acting would be something I’d love to do, but it’s not something I’m out there pushing for at the moment. If I was lucky enough to get a call for a role I could sing and perform in – a Moulin Rouge type film or something like that. When they made the film ‘Chicago’, something like that would be wonderful. It would still be doing what I do but in film format. I’d love one day to have my own show. I’ve got a documentary coming out in September called ‘Don’t Hit My Mum’ that covers domestic violence, and I had one last year about absent fathers. I want to keep doing different documentaries that cover different social issues, and then one day, hopefully, I could have my own show. Oprah Winfrey is my Goddess. I look up to her and think ‘wow’.
That’s a long term goal, in the immediate future I want to take this record worldwide, take it to America and tour again.
Can you shed any light on the rumors of romance between you and Tinie Tempah?
Oh my god, these rumors are getting funnier and funnier. What he did was quite sweet. He put my video up on his website and made a little comment and from that people think something’s going on! Nothing’s going on. I’ve met Tinie many, many times and thanked him for his support. For example, if I tweet something he’ll retweet it, he’s quite supportive like that. He’s not asked me out, but if he did I don’t know if the answer would be yes. Because he’s 21 and I’m 31 and I’m sure in some countries that would be illegal (laughs).
Finally, band reunions seem to be a never ending trend in music recently. Could you see yourself reuniting with Mis-Teeq?
Never say never. I’m seeing Sue-Elise next week; she’s opened up her own stage school so I’m going to the launch of that. It’s a tough one. I think Take That could get away with it because they were massive; but I don’t think everyone could be that successful. For me I always said if Mis-Teeq got back together it would always have to because the three of us genuinely wanted to write together and hang out. Not because someone was sitting there offering us money – I think the public would see through that.
If we got back together it would have to be organically, then yes. I wouldn’t rule it out. I still love performing the songs live, a bit of a Mis-Teeq medley. It still goes down a treat; so who knows?
Alesha Dixon’s latest single ‘Drummer Boy’ is now available on iTunes.
