It’s been ten years since Electro Velvet made their debut at Eurovision 2015, and they are back with a brand new single, out now! They’ve put the electro-swing aside for “Somebody Like You” and have gone for a more romantic jazz sound. They’re still sounding good, sugar!
We had the opportunity to chat with Alex & Bianca about their long-awaited single, and their big return to the London Eurovision Party, which they were invited to to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of their Eurovision participation in Vienna, Austria.
Let’s see what they had to say!
Interview with Electro Velvet – United Kingdom 2015
Ebs Westwood: Congrats on the new single guys! What inspired the return of Electro Velvet, 10 years after the debut?
Alex Larke: I was talking to David Mindel [writer of “Still In Love With You”] and said “It’s been 10 years, we have to do something!”. We started working on something and then I got the call asking about London Eurovision Party and if we would like to appear. I didn’t know if we would be able to do it, because I was doing a gig on a cruise ship. it happened to stop at Cork, Ireland on the day of LEP and three weeks prior, Bianca moved to Cork, which felt really serendipitious!
Bianca Nicholas: It was 10 years ago and I felt a little like I shouldn;t let the negativity stop us doing something together again. This was going to be for fun, and if people listened that was also a bonus and I put no pressure on myself. I guess it was a way of reclaiming something back for myself and then after that with Alex’s ship coming into Cork and I now live here, it did feel very serendipitous and that it was meant to be. It was a sign from the universe to say yes, and I’m glad I did as everyone was lovely. It was really nice to be united with some people again!
EW: Your new single “Somebody Like You” takes a different approach than the electro-swing from you Eurovision entry “Still In Love With You”. What inspired the change? Why no more scatting?
AL: We actually both did a bit of scatting [the vocal technique used in the jazz age, and in EV’s Eurovision entry] when we recorded it. The group StringFever who made this with us showed us the strings on their own for it, and ir was so good that I guess they didn;t want us ruining it by going “skeeby be bap boo!”.
BN: I was unsure if “Sounding good sugar!” was needed, but I was outvoted. Apart form Alex, he didn’t reply, but people said Eurovision is what we’re known for and to keep that thread, but it is so different than the first single, but we’ll see! It’s cheesy, but also I don’t mind embracing a bit of cheesy!
EW: Can we expect any more singles after “Somebody Like You”?
BN: “Never say never, we will have to see. If a song comes up and it’s nice, I’ll be up for doing it! It will be for fun, and if people want to listen to it, that’s an added bonus!”
AL: “Well if people want to hear more…!”
EW: You’ve worked with some great musicians in this single! David Mindel [who co-wrote Still In Love With You], StringFever, Charlie Morgan [who has worked with Elton John and Tina Turner] and Andy Pask who is currently on tour with Hans Zimmer. What an exciting opportunity! How was it working with them?
BN: “It was done remotely, but it’s so cool to have their names on there and that we’ve worked with them!
AL: “Charlie Morgan actually lives in Nashville, so he’s recorded his drums over there and sent them over, then it all just comes together, it’s bizarre!”
EW: How did it feel returning to the London Eurovision Party, 10 years later?
BN: “I actually enjoyed it, everyone was so lovely in the lead up for it, and was excited to see us! I was glad that I said yes!
AL: “It was a bit nerve-wracking but once you’re up on stage, you’re alright! You’re going on after people that have had big cheers and think ‘ooh are we going to be alright’, but it was great! Someone at the front was shouting ‘we love you!’ – it was lovely and felt like something had been lifted.
BN: “A bit like closure!”
AL: “It was jsut so lovely to do it again, everyone seemed genuinely happy to hear it. It was nice to do it again”
EW: “Is it true your outfits from LEP were from the actual music video of “Still In ove With You?”
BN: “Yes!”
AL: “My suit was from the green room! We had two costumes, one was the light up ones that you couldn’t move in! We had the suit and dress with all the lights on and had an identical one for after the performance. The one I had [at LEP] was the identical one without the lights and Bianca had the one from the music video.”
EW: Did you both watch Eurovision this year? Who were you rooting for?
Both: The UK’s entry!
