Roisin Murphy is to many the most versatile and charismatic female performer around, especially since Madonna hung up her sash and decided to turn into a country gentleman’s wife. She also has an accent that can’t decide whether it wants to be Irish, Manc or Cockney. And on top of that people can’t make up their minds which to pay more attention to: the music she’s making or the clothes she’s wearing. She smokes, she swears and she admits that she will quite possibly do your head in. Meet Roisin Murphy.

BTM: Do you ever have a moment before you walk out the door when you just think, what the fuck am I wearing?

RM: Yeah, I do. It actually happened the other day. I played the Album Chart Show and they have all sorts of different bands, but it's mostly indie bands, and I walked out in this bright blue mini dress that is like half of a really old 1700s ball gown and I kind of got “What the fucking hell is she wearing? She's doing my head in,” reaction. But then that's good because you get a reaction and then when you get over that reaction and they get to see that I'm a real person as well and I've got all this sort of humour with the way that I do it. But in the end, with fashion, you are saying more, you're not saying less, you are communicating more with people.

BTM: Were you happy to be compared to Robbie Williams?

RM: Yeah, in the sense that it was done as a performer when they saw me play live and the reaction the audience had toward me, yeah. I don't think I'd ever make records like Robbie does, I think I've got a better voice to be honest as well but that's just me. I think he's a fantastic performer so to be compared to that and that kind of atmosphere in one of my gigs is a good thing I think.

BTM: Do you think collaborating with someone as experimental as Matthew Herbert was a good idea for your first solo album? Do you regret not being a little more commercial?

RM: It’s just the way it worked. I mean, I didn't plan on making the record with Matthew the way that I planned making this record. I certainly wasn't ready to be that focused about making music. Coming straight out of Moloko, I'd always worked and produced with just one guy so it seemed like a natural thing to do that again. In a way, Ruby Blue was made in a much more similar way to a Moloko record than this one. I started working with Matthew the day after Brixton Academy, which was the last Moloko show, and just carried on until I had an album. It didn't involve the label. I did what I always did which was not involve the label, we did it in Sheffield, we did it all ourselves, we produced it and mixed it and engineered it all ourselves. When I delivered the record to Echo I think that was when I realised I'd gone solo because they said weird things to me. They were like “This is the wrong record.” I was like, “Oh, I left the right one outside. Jesus, I must have left it in the car.” It was weird to have that said to me to be honest with you as I am honestly exceptionally proud of that record and I think it was the perfect record for that time of my life. It set an agenda, where I could do whatever I fucking liked after Moloko.

BTM: Is there anyone you'd like to collaborate with?

RM: I think personally I haven’t started to think about that in a big way but I would imagine that that’s the way it will work for the next record. I’m only beginning to think about that. I'll probably work with someone I worked with before to begin with and see where that takes me. But I always do it like that, I always feel it out.

Words : Andrea Horan

Matthew @ 4 Mar 2008 21:25

nice interview, can't wait for part 2! I actually preferred Ruby Blue to the new album, perhaps because it was just a little bit more out there and not so commercial. But then I still thought it was magnificent pop music.