Interview Time!

This Month Geri Halliwell + Mel G tell her side of the Story!

dotmusic catches up with Geri as she continues her world-wide promotional tour for the single ‘Look At Me’.

dotmusic: Hi Geri. You’ve been very busy recently. Have you had a chance to take a break?

Geri: "I went around the world almost in eight days. Phileas Fogg did it in 20 days but this is the 20^th century so it’s a bit faster."

dotmusic: How has the past year been for you?

Geri: "When I left the band I didn’t know what I was going to do. I don’t know if you understand the reasons why I left. I'd always planned to leave and I told the girls that – I was going to leave at the end of the tour. I meant to be an advocate of Girl Power so if I couldn’t do a breast cancer interview then I felt like a hypocrite and a liar. Inside, in the deepest darkest pit of my desire I wanted to go solo but I didn't dare admit it because I didn’t know if I was good enough to do that. I’ve always had a hand in the song writing and the imagery but I didn’t know if I was good enough to do that.

"Do you know what I believe? No matter who you are you've got to face your fears in life. You know, we've all got mountains to climb - different ones - and this was a personal mountain that I had to climb. I was really afraid to do it but I had to. I didn't want to get to the age when I was a grandmother and say, "if only I'd tried." I'd rather try and fail than not try at all. So it was a personal achievement for me to do the album. At the end of the day I know I'm not Celine Dion, I'm not the best dancer in the world. But what I can give to you is honesty and passion, I write about what I feel and hopefully try and communicate with people."

dotmusic: Did you create the concept for the ‘Look At Me’ video?

Geri: "Yeah, I wrote ‘Look At Me’ about six months ago because I was really overwhelmed with everyone's obsession with public image. It made me start to look at myself and laugh at myself and actually the deeper meaning of the song is: "Look at me, look at you, let's look at each other." You know when I meet you lot, I don't just see journalists, I see you as human beings and I hope you do the same to me. I think the world is a nicer place when we respond on a bit of a human level.

"You know, I'm laughing at myself - its good not to judge people, whether you're gay, black, straight or whatever sex you are, its irrelevant. Everything I do comes from me, I know the media always like to think that there are people behind the scenes - I'm no puppet on a string. What you see is totally from my heart, I try to keep it real, that's why I took so long to come out. I didn't want to ride off the back of my fame, I don't expect someone to buy my record just 'cause of who I am. I want to give you something to provoke thought or just entertain you. In the video I'm laughing at the stereotypes of women."

dotmusic: Which woman from the video would you pick to represent you?

Geri: "I think I'm somewhere between the virgin and the vamp - it depends what day you catch me on."

dotmusic: How have you found embarking on a solo career?

Geri: "It is scary. It’s a fickle world we live in. On the other hand I think everything is getting a lot more intense and I can follow my own direction."

dotmusic: Can you describe the sound of the new album?

Geri: "It's like a PMT mood swing, sometimes I am on the floor and I'm searching, the next minute it's up there. I think music is timeless, it should be panoramic it should be cinematic, it should never be lazy. I don't think pop music has to be crap and hopefully mine isn't."

dotmusic: Are you planning any other projects?

Geri: "I'll tell you what, I am rehearsing with a band with a big brass section."

dotmusic: Are there any artists out there that you'd like to work with?

Geri: "I think its important for me to establish Geri Halliwell at the moment. So I better wait a while."

dotmusic: Which do you feel most like, a concept or an artist?

Geri: "I feel like an artist. I think that music and imagery are one and the same I really do. I think music should be emotive, it should never cheat. You've got to take people somewhere whether its up, down, sideways or backwards. I try and do that totally, as well as dress it with a really good video."

dotmusic: "Will you be going to Victoria's wedding?"

Geri: "Well I haven't been invited so I can't go and gatecrash. I think you'll have to ask them, I haven't had a letter through the door, unfortunately."

dotmusic: Where does the Shirley Bassey element in ‘Look At Me’ come from?

Geri: "My father was 50 when I was born so all my influences are like Judy Garland and so that's what influenced me. After dinner on Sunday, my mother used to get me to sing a song for her. She'd say, "do Shirley Bassey arms." She was quite an inspiration for me."

dotmusic: Is your single an answer to the Spice Girls 'Goodbye'?

Geri: "Can I put the record straight about 'Goodbye'...Emma Bunton and I were round a piano writing that song, I think they developed it and it's very flattering that they dedicated it to me. When you write you draw on your own experiences and I'm not going to write about hotel rooms and tour buses. So, actually, you write about relationships and it is about walking out of a relationship."

dotmusic: What's you favourite brand of wonderbra?

Geri: "I go for more of a cross-your-heart uplifting shape I have to say."

dotmusic: A bit cheeky, but do you have a boyfriend at the moment?

Geri: "When I wrote the album I put a 'no sex' ban on myself cos actually I write better when I put all my emotion into it. So, at the moment I'm in love with my music."

dotmusic: After a year travelling around the world as a UN ambassador, how are you going to combine your career pursuits?

Geri: "Do you know what, its nothing unusual. Anyone given the opportunity to do something good will do it. I think we're all living double lives, they're working and looking after their kids at home. I need it. It's so easy to let your ego eat your heart up in this business. When you go to Africa and realise that people are starving and don't have the same opportunities that we do…"

dotmusic: How did you come up with the idea of saying goodbye to Ginger Spice in the video?

Geri: "When I started working on the music I got images in my head. I take ideas and bounce them around with other people and we thought it would be very cinematic."

dotmusic: How’s your book going?

Geri: "I've written an autobiography and I’ve been doing this since I was a child and it's more about being a child chasing dreams. It'll be out before Christmas, but I can't tell you what it's called."

dotmusic: "Do you work-out everyday?"

Geri: "I don't think that I'm that disciplined. I want to have my cake and eat it, I like chocolate puddings. I'm like everybody, we're all fighting the battle of the bulge. If I eat too many cakes I get fat."

dotmusic: It sounds like the album, 'Schizophonic' is very diverse?

Geri: "I listen to all kinds of music, whether it's Frank Sinatra, Radiohead - anything. So long as it moves you, gives you something. So long as it's emotive, and I was painting pictures. As a nation we don't like just one kind of music, I don't think music should appeal to any one age group. Good music is like art, you should he able to respond to it at any level. I never waste a lyric, this is my way of speaking to people. I come from a real artful dodger background, I just blag it."

dotmusic: What are the main differences between Ginger and Geri?

Geri: "There's no difference I just grew out of her but I still think that she's in me."

dotmusic: What have you got planned for the last day of this century?

Geri: "As a nation I think we should take all the good stuff from the past and take it into the future."

Mel G