Ex Sugarbabe Siobhan Donaghy speaks exclusively to LoveGirls about her new album, fighting depression and the real reason she left the band.

Siobhan Donaghy was only 14 when she joined the Sugarbabes, at 16 she already had a top five hit, and by the time she was 17 she had left the band altogether. Now 23, her second solo album is due out later this month. LoveGirls caught up with the singer straight after she left the stage at Popstarz in Kings Cross where her live performance had gone down a storm with the mostly gay crowd who obviously adored her.

LoveGirls: You have a new album out this month, could you tell LoveGirls a little bit about it?

Siobhan: its out the 25th of June, it’s called Ghosts and I recorded it in the north of France. With a guy called James Sanger who is a famous producer, having worked with U2 and Dido. His mother died a couple of years ago and he became a heroin addict, which I did not know when I went out to work with him. So the album is almost split into two half’s. The front half is like very pop and up and almost schizophrenic and the end of the album is really dark and I think it kind of shows the emotions we all went through living in France. We were staying in a 500 year old manor and I was away from my friends, had no TV or radio, my phone did not work. It was a really pressurised environment but creatively it was amazing.

LoveGirls: Your only 23 years old but your music tends to show a very mature side to you. Where do you get your inspiration form?

Siobhan: I think starting out so young and being thrown into an adult world you have to grow up. When I was 14 I was in the Sugarbabes, had left school and instead had a tutor. We used to work illegally, working through the night and a lot of my friends back then were at least ten years older then me and I liked it that way. When I was first with the Sugarbabes and again when I went solo I worked with a guy called Cameron Mcvey and he always instilled in me the need to have serious music integrity and to take the song writing seriously. It’s too easy now to let someone else come in and write your album for you. I don’t want to be one of those artists.

LoveGirls: The album Ghosts is very different from what you have done in the past, how do you think your audiences will react to the new material?

Siobhan: The fan reaction has been amazing. The most difficult song on the album is a song called Gold Fish which seems to be everyone’s favourite which really surprised. It seems to be going down very well.

LoveGirls: You are often compared to Kate Bush, how do you feel about that?

Siobhan: I love Kate Bush and I am a massive fan, and I think people can hear on the record that she is an influence. But Kate Bush fans are scary and will probably come after me if I don’t say something other than that, its just an influence and I am inspired by her and bow down to how great she is.

LoveGirls: ‘Overrated’ was your first solo venture after leaving the Sugarbabes and was very well received by the critics, however commercially the record failed to do as well as many had predicted, why do you think that was?

Siobhan: well I think that the kind of artist I am I need to convince people over time. And I’m not really a singles artist. I’m not going to have one hit that brings everyone on board. I think that was the I had with London Records, the song went top 20, and for me, as my first solo single, I thought it was great but they thought it was a disappointment which I can never get my head around. They gave up on an album that was critically acclaimed before it was even released and refused to release very many copies so it was nowhere to be found. People ask if I’m disappointed that it was not a commercial success but I can’t take it personally because it not something that I did wrong. I stand by that record and I’m really proud of it as I am with the new album. You just have to make the record and do your best and hope that the people behind you are supportive what you do.

LoveGirls: The irony is although commercially you have not done that well you have more music creditability then a lot of artist in the charts right now.

Siobhan: Well it’s what I prefer. It does not pay the bills but you still have your musical integrity and I would just rather have that. I’ve been given the easy option out a few times, I’ve been offered to take that song from someone, to just buy it off them, and I just can’t do it. Even though you know that it will be A listed on the radio and that it will make things so much easier for you and your album will sell shit loads off the back of it. But I just don’t even want that one song on my album.

LoveGirls: When you left the Sugarbabes it was well publicised that there were frictions within the group. What do you think went wrong?

Siobhan: Yes there was. It was me and Keisha who did not get on.

LoveGirls: Now Keisha and Mutya are no longer talking, is Keisha just a bitch?

Siobhan: Urm, maybe [laughs nervously]

LoveGirls: But what do you think went wrong in the relationship with you two.

Siobhan: It was just never right. Keisha never liked me from the day she met me. I mean now if I entered a relationship like that I would never persevere with it, it was only because I was so young. Keisha just never liked me, I don’t know why, but I was in that band for four years and I think that’s a long time to be in an unhappy relationship.

LoveGirls: When you did leave the band everyone assumed it was because you were having problems with Mutya.

Siobhan: Yes, I feel quite bad, I feel that maybe I should have spoken up at the time but I just didn’t want to get into the whole tabloid thing. To be honest I thought that eventually it would die down almost immediately but it hasn’t its just gone on for years. Mutya is actually a lovely girl and especially now she has got her solo stuff it will shine through that she is a really nice person.

LoveGirls: What are your feelings about that whole period now?

Siobhan: I’m really glad I joined the band, I met so many amazing people including Cameron Mcvey who I made this record with and I just think it was a great learning curve. I feel like now I’ve done the whole girl band thing and I’ve grown up. I have different management and they make sure I pull my weight and don’t let me mess around and keep me grounded. I like that. But now when I think of the band, I think it’s great for what it is but I could never see myself in a million years being part of it. It does not mean to say I don’t like their music it’s just not me.

LoveGirls: What do you think of Mutya’s new song?

Siobhan: I think it’s a really nice friendly tune. The thing is Mutya can sing anything and it would sound great. She has got a phenomenal voice.

LoveGirls: After leaving the band you struggled with depression and almost quit the music industry altogether. What was that time in your life like?

Siobhan: I was quite depressed before I left for about a year and a half. I was so young. I tried to ride the storm but it runs in my family and I do believe it’s a genetic thing rather then a circumstantial thing. The depression did last for years and I was on different medications. In the end it worked and I came off the medication when I was in Mexico and I just thought that’s it, no more drugs. I think I was one of the lucky ones where it worked. Now I just have a really good attitude to life and feel like I can take the hard knocks easier.

LoveGirls: What’s the best thing about being a successful musician?

Siobhan: It’s not really a job I suppose. I quite like that its not a 9 to 5 and every day there is something new and I feel I would be quite bored doing anything else.

LoveGirls: And the worse?

Siobhan: The business side and all the politics that goes on. It does your head in. it gets in the way of the music and is quite annoying.

LoveGirls: You have a huge lesbian following, what do you put that down to?

Siobhan: I’m not sure why really, I’ve always had lots of gay fans and they are so loyal and come to the gigs and it’s great to have them.

LoveGirls: Who would you go gay for?

Siobhan: Urrrrm …. Probably one of my friends but you don’t know them. Also Portia De Rossi we would go well together. She is gorgeous.

LoveGirls: Have you ever gone gay for some before?

Siobhan: No, one of my best friends is gay and we go to Candy Bar. She tried to turn me but it has not happened yet.

LoveGirls: Are you not for turning

Siobhan: Urrmm!

As the interview came to an end it is plain to see Siobhan is much older then her years, having already packed so much in to her short life. At the same time she comes across as incredibly sweet and open, happy to answer all our questions no matter what the subject. It’s easy to believe her when she says she is more interested in the integrity of the music rather then the success but you can’t help but hope she achieves both. Her recent songs are strong not as strong as her voice, however which is mesmerising. And whilst her performance at Popstarz thrilled the crowed it is yet to be seen whether this will translate into album sales.

Siobhan new Album Ghosts was released on the 25th of June! Click here to buy it from Amazon

Photography by Kerry Pringle