Overloading on Sugababes
I'm watching TV and a song called Overload comes onscreen, it's funky, edgy music and I sit up at attention. This song is completely different than anything else that's been on this station for the past half hour. So I sit entertained by this infectious song and a big smile comes across my face. Maybe you've already been there, sitting like I am with a smile, enjoying the moment.
A short time later I'm talking with Siobhan Donaghy who sings Overload with her group, the Sugababes. She's calling from England and wants to discuss the album, One Touch. I mention that Overload is a great song.
"See, the funny thing is that we think we have a very British sound but when all the reviews came out in the UK they all thought we had a really American sound," she says. "We thought that was really odd. We just hope it will be fresh to American listeners."
The Sugababes, barely into their mid-teens, write and record their own material. Influenced by musicians like Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, and The Who, they're getting a reputation in the UK for their charming songs and are hoping to do the same in North America, a continent they describe as the most important market in music.
"All of our idols are from America," says Siobhan. "It's got the biggest market, so of course were going to want to come over there. We went to New York about a month and a half ago to meet the record company so hopefully Overload is hitting the radio. We'd love to come back and tour."
When Siobhan met Mutya and Keisha at a party, a musical friendship began to form. They wanted to start a pop group and began calling themselves the Sugababes (because of their sweet tooth for candy). The girls were serious from the start and their enthusiasm paid off in a big way. By 2000 the Sugababes were signed with London Records and their first single Overload was recorded. That song remained in the UK top 30 charts for six weeks and was proof that the Sugababes were heading for fame.
"It freaks us all out," says Siobhan. "I mean, we're just three normal teenage girls but we love making music so this is a dream come true. So I can hardly complain."
Like many other fledgling music acts, the Sugababes seem to be working non-stop. There are recording sessions, choreography practices, interviews with the media and attending photo shoots. It's the proximity to photographers that has most caught Siobhan's attention. If she wasn't a pop star, she tells me, she'd likely be a photographer. "All the photographers I meet teach me some things about the camera and they say I can do work experience with them. Now that's a chance that not many people get," she says.
Photo shoots, spending a day in a recording studio, signing autographs for fans, The Sugababes have come a long way over the past few years and even though they still remain great friends, that friendship has changed. How could it not? The girls spend virtually every waking moment together.
"It would be too easy for me to say that it hasn't changed and that everything is the same," says Siobhan. "It has changed but mainly for the good. Although we are friends we have to be business partners as well so I think we respect each other a lot more now. We're more like sisters than anything."
As One Touch finds a fan base in North America, these English girls are already considering a second album.
"We are planning on doing another album but we won't be recording it until October or November because, hopefully and if all goes well we'll be doing a promotional tour of the US in the summer. So there won't be much time to record it until then," says Siobhan.
"We don't want to be pigeonholed into a category," says Siobhan as we talk about the Sugababes evolving sound. "We wouldn't limit ourselves like that. I'm into a lot of guitar-based rock sounds and I'm into hip-hop as well. The others are more into R&B and jungle and stuff like that. We all love messing around with different types of music and seeing which works best for us."
The Sugababes offer something different in 2001. They've got something right with One Touch, it's pop music that can't be denied.
"We didn't want people to look at us as yet another girl band," says Siobhan. "We let the music do the talking and that's worked for us so far."
One Touch will be released in North America on June 26th, 2001.
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Log onto The Sugababes official web site at www.sugababesonline.com.
Listen to Overload and Just Let It Go in streaming audio format below:
