Fridae

After chatting with Roisin Murphy at the EMI offices in London back in October, I caught up with the singer in New York late last week.

We talked about a variety of topics, including touring in Europe, her forthcoming global Gucci advertising campaign, the stalled promotion of her new single and the situation at EMI. Lastly, Roisin announced that she will be coming to the U.S. in October for shows and more promotions. Look for the second part of the interview tomorrow.

A big thank you to all you Roisin fans for submitting and emailing me questions. The entire interview I conduced was based on your input. Roisin was very glad to answer some of your burning questions.

Read Part 1 of the interview after the jump.

Arjan: The first question I received from reader Keane was: "What is going on with the "Movie Star" single?"

R�is�n: We have changed the roll out of the track a little bit. We decided that we are going to do a double A-side in September or October, I am not sure yet. It will be "Movie Star" with "Slave To Love," which is a cover I recorded of Bryan Ferry's song.  It is being used for a global Gucci advertising campaign, so we decided to hold the fire and wait with the release of the single untill the campaign started. I plan to do another video for "Movie Star" as well.


Arjan: Are you going to appear in the Gucci commercial as well?


R�is�n: I wish. No, it is just the music.

Arjan: The next question is from Amit. He wonders if "Tell Everybody" be ever released as a single.


R�is�n: I don't know. I doubt it. It it is time for a new record pretty soon you know.

Arjan: Jeff wants to know what are you saying in the background of "You Know Me Better," during the chorus?

R�is�n: I don't really know. It was something that Andy Cato sampled up and made percussive. I am not saying anything in particular. I am not saying "follow the devil," "failure" or anything like that.

Arjan: Also not if you play it backwards?

R�is�n: [Laughs] Nothing like that, no, no.


Arjan: OK.  I have gotten a a lot of questions of people who are asking when you are going to come to the U.S. to perform?

R�is�n: We're in talks about that at the moment and it will be in October I think. I can't tell you the definite dates yet. We are kind of working that out in the next few days really.

Arjan: Will that go along with some sort of release of an EP in the United States or something?

R�is�n: The release of "Movie Star" will be a worldwide single release and that will be the release to promote.  We are going to be going through U.S. iTunes very soon. Hopefully we can do a simultaneous release for once in my life - that will be great.

Arjan: Markus wants to know if you can sum up the '90s in one sentence?

R�is�n: I was kind of appalled with the '90s to be honest, with the style of the '90s in particular. I was always very flamboyant and liked to dress up and al that good stuff. You should look for the first video I ever did with Moloko. It was called "Fun For Me," and you can see that style I had. But everything in the '90s was so earnest. It was all about jeans and t-shirts, and this whole minimalist thing. And I was not like that. So I guess I'd like to sum up the '90s as a decade in which I didn't fit in.

I think the '80s would have fitted me better, because everybody was a bit flamboyant, a bit more arty with acts like Grace Jones and Talking Heads and all these people, which suits me more than the '90s, if you know what I mean. That is what I mean about the '90s - being very earnest and everybody had to be really serious.  And that just wasn't me at all. So I had to kind of fight against that a little bit, but it has kind of come around again, people are being flamboyant again.

Arjan: Markus wants to know that if you look at music today, who do you think is influencing the sound of tomorrow?


R�is�n: I really like the music everybody likes I think. I like Gnarls Barkley, Gorillaz and Outkast, and I like people who have that sort flamboyance, who have that kind of positive optimistic outlook and are experimental. I like artists who are optimistic about modern technology and modern music. Those are the kind of acts I like. I don't know who is going to be next thing tomorrow, I am not sure. I mean I have been living live music for months bow. Especially with the festivals I have been going to. I have seen lots and lots of bands. One that sticks out for me is Radiohead. I saw them last week and they were incredible.  It was one of the best shows I have ever seen. And I saw the The Raconteurs, I loved those, obviously they are not so technological really.


Arjan: Adi wonders if there will ever be a Moloko reunion...

R�is�n: I get asked this question asked a lot and I never say never but it is entirely unlikely.  So I am not going to say, no it will never ever happen, but I can't see it happening.

[Look for Part 2 of the interview with Roisin Murphy on ArjanWrites.com tomorrow.]