Exclusive: Interview with AN ORIGINAL SUGABABE

Last month, the original Babes played their first headline gig in over twelve years. It sold out in under fifteen minutes. The Tab caught up with Mutya Buena (the one who had the semi-decent solo career) to chat new songs, ASOS, and hiatus.

From left: Mutya, Keisha, Siobhan

The Sugababes have reformed! How is MKS going? 

Really well. We’re all really excited to get back out there and start doing what we know best, really.

Are you finding you’re being branded as the ‘original Sugababes’ a lot, and do you like that?

There’s no getting away from what we came from. When people say ‘original’, I think it’s nice, it’s always a compliment.

Are you finding that a lot of your fans are people who loved you when they were ten and are now twenty one and still coming to shows?

Yeah, and I think that’s so amazing. To tell you the truth, one of the reasons we actually reformed was because we have such a good fan base and a great following. They kind of convinced us that this was the right thing to do.

How was the hiatus?

We never all came out of the industry. We just weren’t doing as much, just having a bit of a break and not performing as much. Now we’ve put that time away and we’re back performing again.

Were you all always in touch?

Yeah. I’d always see Keisha and Siobhan out, and we had each other on Facebook and stuff, like we’d send each other a message now and then… finally one of us was like dyou know what this could be something great. Let’s meet up.

So as MKS are you going to be playing all new stuff, no more One Touch?

Of course. You will definitely be hearing some of the old stuff from the first album, then some of the stuff that me, Keisha and Heidi were doing. It’s going to be a bit of a mixture. I think everyone likes the classics. It’ll be nice to go out there and actually refresh our memories again.

We were playing Flatline in our house last night and everyone really liked it. Is that the kind of sound you’re going for?

You know what, we’ve got so much different music on our album. That’s just one. We’ve opened up the doors to do more upbeat tracks, as well as some slower. Anyway, it’s all very different. It’s not predictable basically.

You’ve been working with loads of new people this time around. What’s Dev Hynes like?

He’s amazing, Blood Orange, he’s amazing. We really wanted to work with him, we found out he really wanted to work with us. We flew ourselves over to LA for about six weeks. We basically just threw ourselves out there and worked with some amazing producers. People we’ve worked with before and people we’ve not worked with at all.

MKS with Hynes

In a fight between the original Sugababes and the most recent incarnation, which would win?

Oh God. I don’t know. I mean I’d have to say it would be us… I don’t know. That would be just so… It would never happen. We all have opinions about each other but it would never be anything negative. I mean, I don’t know Jade [Ewen, Keisha’s replacement in The Sugababes] and I’ve never met her. I’ve met Amelle [Berrabah, Mutya’s replacement] once.

Is it weird seeing other singers performing as the Sugababes?

It felt weird. It felt like Oh my God, that should be me up there. But I left because I wanted to leave. So I’m not bitter about anything.

I can’t help noticing the wardrobes have changed since last time…

The wardrobes have definitely changed. I think it’s just ‘cause we’re getting older. To tell you the truth when I look at some of the old pictures I do cringe a lot. Yeah, but the styling’s changed so drastically over the years anyway. We have to keep up with it. We’re getting older, I’ve got a daughter. I can’t be coming out the way I was before. We have a great stylist, too. She helps us out a lot. I think it’s for the best.

Back in the day.

You’re opening your first tour in Norwich! Have you been before?

I have, I have. Not for a little while but that’s our first date! Yeah. Norwich is gonna be a good night.

And at the gig people are going to hear a mix of all your music?

Definitely. We’ve got so much music. We’ve got too many songs. People wanna hear the classics and people wanna hear the new stuff. We’re trying to balance it out at the moment ‘cause we’ve got like twenty songs we wanna do.

MKS are playing at the LCR this Friday and haven’t yet sold out! Buy your tickets online or at the Box Office for a night of nostalgia as well as some great, fresh music.

Splash image: BBC