Double Page Spread Interview

SHE first came on the electro scene two years ago with her first hit record Down For The Beat, and now at just 22 she’s taking the world by storm three number one records later. With a rapidly growing fan base she is certainly changing the way the public view electro music and she alone is making it more popular than ever. Here the Electroqueen (Lily Smart) tells us today why she chose electro music, her iconic status and why everything is about to change…

Lily, thanks for coming to Technoglow today..
No problem. I’m excited to be here, especially on your first issue! I’m so glad there’s another electro magazine out, actually, are you the first? It’s gonna be an inspirational magazine for many I’m sure.

Inspiration?
Yeah, as electro music is such a niche market, people who want to get into that sort of thing find it really hard. (Believe me I know!)
So this magazine is gonna be like a guiding light, an inspiration to all!

Inspirational...I like it!
[laughs]

So where did you get your inspiration from?
Me? I got mine from the old stuff like David Bowie and Pink Floyd and then just twisted it into my own new electro style. I find myself and my imagination my biggest inspiration though.

An individual? We like it. It’s not just your music that’s individual is it? You certainly seem to have become somewhat of a fashion icon also..
You think? [smiles] well I’d like to think of it like that, but really I just get up every morning and throw on anything I can find as I’m usually running late!

Well it definitely works for you. You have done a couple of fashion shoots haven’t you for some little magazines called, oh I don’t know, Elle and Vogue?
[laughs] oh I know, I still can’t believe they asked me to do that. I’m nothing like a model. And I don’t think I ever will be.

Well we think you’d make a great model, but don’t forget about your music!
Oh don’t worry, I won’t. I’m certainly not gonna give that up in a hurry. To be honest…I think I’ve only just got started really! Well I hope so, I guess it’s not really up to me how long I stick around. I can keep doing what I love but at the end of the day it’s the public that can keep it going for me. [laughs] this looks like I’m turning this interview into a silent plead for stardom! I’m not! But I’m definitely happy enough to keep going until someone better, and I hate to say it but probably younger, comes along. I’ve been so fortunate to get to where I’ve got to. And I also think that there’s an element of luck in there too. At the end of the day, if it’s supposed to be then it will happen.

Really? You don’t seem like the superstitious sort.
Well it’s not really superstitious, but yeah I can see where you’re coming from. I just believe everyone has there own destiny and I really hope this is mine! [laughs] but I do also believe I was in the right place at the right time! And it was down to luck that my agent was in the audience that night which all lead eventually to me getting signed! Hmm, I think I’ve just appealed to two apposing views there. But yeah, you get what I mean!

So you believe everyone has a path but you have to be lucky to make it?
Yeah exactly!

So, when did you realise music was the right path for you? Have you always known, or did it just come later on?
Erm, well I’ve always loved music from an early age seeing as I used to listen to my dad’s Bowie records and that but actually wanting to be involved with it myself and create my own music? I guess that came in my early teens, about thirteen or fourteen, I started writing a few songs and learned to play a couple of instruments, guitar and drums, and then I just started playing about with it a bit really as I got to about fifteen or sixteen.

Are your songs based on real experiences then?
I suppose some are in a way. But to be honest, when I start writing a song I don’t generally have a past experience in mind, its just as I get going, I end up unintentionally slipping a few experiences in. Like in my song Music Beats Love it started off more to do with my love of music, and then in the end I ended up putting in a lot of references to an ex of mine. Oops!

Does your current boyfriend Heath Kant [successful DJ iRock] mind about that?
No, not at all! Generally because all the references aren’t usually so kind to them! Ah well, serves them right, they shouldn’t f**k with me!

Should Heath be scared?
Course not. I know he would never do anything like that anyway. To be honest, he’s the thing that keeps me sane. Sometimes I get so stressed and would drop it all if I could, but he gives me a cuddle and makes me a hot chocolate and just calms me down and makes me feel a whole lot better.

A hot chocolate? That sounds good. We don’t like those calorie counters here at techno glow!
Oh definitely not! I pretty much eat what I like! I mean of course I try and stay pretty healthy, but I just can’t resist sometimes, especially chocolate, that’s my weakness! I do go to the gym every day and do an hour of cardio, but I enjoy that so it’s not too bad. And it’s where I usually get my ideas for my new songs. So it’s a double bonus for me!

Well that can’t be bad! How’s the new stuff coming along then?
Pretty good. I’m really proud of my latest album [Mix It Up out 17th June] because it’s totally different to anything I’ve ever done before. Its still electro but it has kind of a retro twist to it. I felt it was ready for a change, besides I like to mix it up a bit, keep everyone on their toes! [laughs]




The Electroqueen’s single Rock & Fall is out next Monday.