Hynam Kendall: You’re part of new pack of solo British indie girls like Bat For Lashes and Florence And The Machine. Why do you think there’s been this sudden bout?
Marina Diamandis: Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse proved there was a demand for it. And, as in all parts of pop culture, there are trends that come and go. When Britpop was at its peak, all the Britpop bands got lumped together, but, personally, I do my thing independently.
HK: You don’t see yourself at the vanguard of some sort of British female movement?
MD: For me, personally, a movement is calculated, associated with a group mindset. It’s wonderful there are female soloists getting played on the radio more, but it’s not relevant to me.
HK: The video for I Am Not a Robot was shot by Rankin, how did that come about?
MD: My Creative Director sent the song to him. I was like, “He’ll never be interested.” But I think he really liked the song. We met up and discussed treatments – I added my ten pence worth - and then we decided to do it, albeit with a very small budget.
HK: Trust Rankin to get your top off!
M: [laughing] We got the idea from a shoot he did with Giselle. He showed me pictures of her in body paint, fully naked. Obviously I wasn’t up for that.
HK: You’ve been doing the festival circuit, how do you translate the music to a live set?
M: I don’t favour just replaying the record. I prefer it quite stripped back and raw. It’s all very low key – it has to be for now, I’m at the bottom of the ladder.
HK: When you tour the album, I can image it’ll be something quite theatrical
M: The label, quite rightly, aren’t yet ready to invest in my zany ideas yet, so I’ll save them all up for something massive.
HK: You stopped performing behind a keyboard because you were fed up of being compared to Kate Nash
M: Before I became a singer I had a background in dance, so I just felt suffocated behind it. Then the Kate Nash comparisons started, I was like, ‘I’m not having any of this’
HK: You traditionally wrote, recorded and produced all your songs in your room, and now you have a touring band. Has it changed the music?
M: Yeah definitely, they’ve enabled me to perform properly, perform how I want to. In live sets, the pop songs rely much more on production and layers, so I have a backing track for those, but the ones like Robot I just strip down now. It feels more like real music.
HK: When you sing, you play with register, make sounds with your throat... this has lead to lots of Kate Bush comparisons
M: My singing was a secret. Growing up, I hardly ever sang – not even in the house to mess around. When I finally got singing lessons, they said I was rubbish, made me sing covers like Disco Inferno, and I was like, “I am the worst singer in the world.” I quit lessons and thought, “I’m gonna do what I like with my voice”
HK: Did you never want to sing in a straightforward traditional manner, just the lazy pop star style?
M: I think the lazy route is my way with all the warbling. I imagine it’s hard to sing it very straight, fitting into the pop style. I’m sure I’ll try it for the next album.
HK: Now that you’re signed to a big label - are they working on a strategy of making you less “unique” and more commercially viable... Ironing out the quirks?
M: I think that’s a very cynical way of putting it, but I’m sure it crossed their minds to market me in a very pop way. But in the past few months, everyone has realised – thank god – that is not the route I should be taking.
HK: I know how A&R teams are with saleability
M: Looks-wise they’ve never said anything. I haven’t had a stylist until this week, actually. Music-wise – at a certain point before Robot came out, I got a lot of offers from writers, people connected to producers like Red One. At first I was really flattered , but then I thought, actually, I got signed on my own, I don’t need anyone to write for me. That’s the nearest thing I’ve had.
HK: So they’re not trying to mould your album into 12 top-ten friendly pop tunes?
M: Absolutely not. Between me and you – and I guess whoever comes across this interview – I absolutely didn’t aim for that, but actually almost each song on the album is very pop. I had real freedom on it to do exactly what I like – and I ended up making a pop album!