August 2001 Interview (Edele)

This interview has been archived from the former Official B*Witched website.

First up, are there any husbands, boyfriends or babies we need to know about?

Edele: No, there are no babies or husbands on the way! As for boyfriends, I’m single again, but the other three are still lucky in love! I’m as single as they come and it’s brilliant. I’ve been on a couple of dates with people but I haven’t actually been going out with anyone and I actually don’t want a boyfriend now. Am I good at dating? Well, I’ve got commitment written all over me so not really! After one date they all want to marry me, or something!

What’s going on with the new material?

Edele: The new stuff is definitely taking longer than we wanted. We were hoping that the single would be out this summer but you have to take this long, especially when you’re looking for a new direction; you have to do a certain amount before you find the road that you’re going to take your album down.

We were writing really good songs but there was nothing that really grabbed us and made us think “Wow, let’s base the album on that!” But we’ve found that song, so it’s going well.

Do you miss performing?

Edele: I love writing but I do miss being out there and performing. We haven’t performed since last November when we were in Dubai and Brunei. When you’re performing there’s nothing wrong in the whole world and you get rid of all your troubles. It’s the most amazing feeling and when you haven’t done that for a while you get eager for it and that’s really stressful! I watch CD:UK every Saturday without fail and every time I find myself waiting for a B*Witched video to come on!

Do you feel like when you release new material it will be like starting all over again?

Edele: It does feel a bit like the old days when we were first putting stuff together. It’s been so long since we were on TV and all that, it feels like we almost never did. It’s really weird! I think having such a long break has made us realise what we had and we’re determined to get there again but we don’t want to rush it. We want to get it right.

What can you tell us about the new sound?

Edele: It’s a more mature sound than before but that’s all I can tell you for now. I’ll be able to tell you all about it nearer the release time! It’s still pop music though. B*Witched are pop and we’ll always be pop so don’t worry about that, we’re not going to suddenly turn into a rock band and do a duet with AC-DC! We have grown up in the last couple of years so it will be a bit older by the time we get back, obviously. We’re nearly old ladies!

Where are you recording now?

Edele: We’re doing a lot of the recording over here in Ireland, which is really good though Lindsay and Keavy have done some recording in England too. We all bring tracks in and then make it into B*Witched in the studio together. I’m sure we’ll all sing on our own on this album, like on the second one.

Do you do any songwriting at home?

Edele: We're not in the studio every day. I'm quite good at getting on with it most of the day but sometimes there's only so much inspiration you can get out of your bedroom! You have to get out and watch Richard and Judy or go for a drive and maybe write beside the sea or something. I probably spend about two days a week in the studio but apart from that our minds are always ticking over about work.

So what's been going on with the others?

Edele: Keavy and Sinead have got agents so they've been doing some presenting. I don't know if you saw Keavy on MTV recently? She was really good! Sinead's done a couple of things over here, some presenting and judging things too. It's really weird not being together all the time at the moment though, but whenever we get back together though it all falls back into place straight away. We're like sisters and we all get really over-excited when we're together and just talk for hours.

How have the fans reacted while you've been away recording?

Edele: We do bump into fans on the street now and then and everyone's just like "Hurry up and come back!" I think there are people who are starting to think we're not together anymore because we haven't done anything for so long - and it's been even longer for fans over here because we were in America all last summer. It doesn't feel that long for us because we only stopped playing gigs and started writing in November but it feels longer for the public. At the moment we all get recognised even more than before and I think it's because people are starting to look out for us and think "Where are B*Witched?"

Do you think it was a good time not to be around in the charts?

Edele: I think it was kind of good to disappear during that time when there were girl bands coming out left, right and centre because they've all gone now, they didn't last long at all. It's great because even if there are people out there thinking we've gone, they're still going to be interested when we come back. Which is very, very soon.

Apart from driving, have you got any new hobbies?

Edele: We've all started yoga, which I know sounds very popstar-ish but it's great. I started it last year in America when I couldn’t get to the gym and we've started classes now we're home. People do recognise you at classes and the gym but it's OK. You just keep your distance when you're on the machines and stuff but I remember last year some guy stopping me while I was on the running machine to ask me for my autograph!

Have you been going out all the time?

Edele: I have actually been going out a lot recently and doing a lot of partying, which is so not me! I'm just going to live the single life for a bit and go out and have a laugh with all my friends over here, Sinead comes along too all the time. I hate dance music so we've had to check out a few places and find some r'n'b nights going on. Somebody came up to me in a nightclub the other day and said, "I thought you didn't go out and you weren't supposed to have a laugh or anything?" And I said "I'm having a laugh now aren't I so that's where you're wrong!"

What music are you into at the moment?

Edele: At the moment I’m enjoying playing all my old CDs again. I didn’t have time to listen to them on the road so I’ve been digging them all out again; TLC’s Crazysexycool, all my old Janet stuff, even back to The Beatles. Any kind of music keeps your creative juices flowing if you just keep listening to it.

Is there anything new you love?

Edele: I bought Janet’s new album recently and Emma Bunton’s and The Stereophonics’ – I like a bit of everything so I buy all the new albums that come out! The best out of those is The Stereophonics.

My favourite song recently has been the new ‘N Sync song, “Pop”; it is just brilliant! The video’s excellent too. It’s pretty much a new style compared to what they’ve done before but not too much, it’s so clever. It’s the first song in a while that I’ve got really excited about.

What do you think of Hear'Say?

Edele: As far as the Hear'Say phenomenon goes, I think it's great for them and I can understand why people are going mad for them because of the TV programme getting so much coverage, but I'm not mad about what they're doing. I don't think they're the best pop songs but I suppose that's because they put the album together so fast. It was weird watching the show and seeing Ray [Hedges]'s studio [where we've worked], we were like "Aaarrgh! That's our studio!"

Atomic Kitten have really come out as the big girl group at the moment, what do you think about that?

Edele: I'm really surprised how big "Whole Again" became, I don't think anybody realised it would be, but it's brilliant for Atomic Kitten. I'm absolutely gutted they did "Eternal Flame"! It's my favourite song in the whole world. I think the production of their version is cool and it's kind of cute the whole way they've done it but I'm absolutely gutted, I would have liked to have done it!!