Interview • Marina & The Diamonds [ENG]

Unless you've been living in a cave for the past few months, you probably have already heard of Marina & The Diamonds, and you probably already love her to bits. It's OK, we do too. So it comes as no suprise that we were literaly craving for Marina to answer our questions - and here it is! Be careful, you are about to read a female singer whose IQ is superior to 80 - we had forgotten what it was like.

HM • Marina, if we had to describe your album, we'd say that it's like a rollercoaster ride: mostly fun and huge pop songs with a lot of loops and screams which leave you dizzy and wanting more - even though the metaphor would not do justice to the strength of your lyrics & melodies. But how would you describe your sound to people who don't konw your music yet?Marina • I am an experimental pop artist. My lyrics centre around socio-political, existential and feminist debates.

HM • "Marina & The Diamonds" is your stage name. Why did you choose this one instead of using your real name?
Marina • It wasn't a big plan or anything. I think subconsciously i wanted to create a family/ sense of community i suppose. A world that was free of judgment and pretense.

HM • 'The Family Jewels' has been extremely well-received by critics. Did you feel some sort of pressure, before the release of the album?
Marina • No. I was weirdly calm. I think this was because i was 110% confident that, regardless of its future success, i had made the album that I had wanted to make. It was totally representative of my artist dna (at that time).

HM • We have listened a lot to your album these past few weeks (and bought it legally, be sure of that!) and we must say it is just UH-MA-ZING. One of the most intelligent and original first albums we've heard in a long time. What were your inspirations?
Marina • Pure emotion is the first. Being honest with yourself is the second. I think for me there is always a strong existential element to the songs and this runs through tracks such as Are you satisfied, Oh no and Mowgli's road where I am trying to challenge people to redefine success in a society where all value is placed on money and beauty, status and fame.

HM • You've worked with famous producers such as Richard Stannard, Greg Kurstin and Pascal Gabriel. How did you meet these producers?
Marina • Biff and Pascal, on MySpace! I had heard of greg kurstin and loved his work so I enquired. I met him later on in the game. He really is brilliant.

HM • Having paid special attention to the lyrics, it is clearly imbued with a touch of modern feminism - with this idea of strong, independant, self-thinking women who know what they want and how to get it. Would you consider yourself a feminist?
Marina • Absolutely. Feminism needs to be re-defined again and I am prepared to help. NO ONE out of the world's biggest current females are truly carrying the torch and this bugs me so much.

HM • In "Are you satisfied?", "Hollywood" or "Oh no!", you also talk a lot about fame and its quirks, and how it can either make you or break you. Is fame something you're afraid of? (not for fame itself, but for all the negative aspects it can have?)
Marina • I will never be afraid of fame because i do not care for it or value it. That is my only strength. I have analysed and critiqued it for much of my life. I feel like part of me becoming an artist was my own social experiment. I love psychology.

HM • Can you tell us the story behind Guilty, which sounds like a rather personal track?
Marina • Some songs arent for talking about publicly. It was about a very vivid dream I had.

HM • You've reached the second place on BBC's Sound of 2010 poll. Were you rather happy for making the top 5 or just disappointed at not being #1?
Marina • Oh man, I didnt even think i would be in the top 5!

HM • Last year, it was La Roux vs. Little Boots. This year, it's you and Ellie Goulding. Don't you get tired of the press trying to compare what's not comparable?
Marina • Yes, it's so boring, for both of us. It will wear off over the years.

HM • On a side note, have you listened to Ellie's work? What do you think of it?
Marina • I have always been a big supporter.

HM • 'I am not a robot' has been announced as the next single. Are you planning on keeping the original video (which was really glamorous & beautiful, btw) or will you shoot a new one?
Marina • Of course. The legendary £5,000 video! Why fix something if it isn't broken.

HM • We know it's a stupid question, but artists usually have ideas about what songs they would like to release as singles, even before the album comes out. What would be your perfect single choices? (please tell us that you want to release Oh no! at some point, this would be HUGE!)
Marina • I would love to release Oh no! and Obsessions- so that I can do a proper video for it. I think Shampain is quite commercial so maybe that too.

HM • You seem to be an artist which cares not only about melodies AND lyrics (which is quite rare nowadays) but also about your videos and artwork (the album cover, for instance, is really beautifull). Is all this important for you, taking special care about singles covers, videos ...?
Marina • Oh, it is 50% of it. I love visual imagery. It is the most powerful sensory quality, for me. Even above sound!

HM • We've read here and there on the net that you planned to do something similar to Lady Gaga's Monster EP, by releasing, on the side, new songs which did not make the album. Is it true?
Marina • No. I was talking about changing the format in which we release music. Smaller bundles but more frequent. The next thing i will release will be a completely new project and piece of work.

To conclude with, some random questions we ask all the artists we interview:

HM • What was the last album you bought?
Marina • Paolo Nutini - Sunny side up

HM • If we looked into your I-Pod right now, what would we find?
Marina • Abba, Penguin Prison, Madonna, Fiona Apple, PJ Harvey, Yann Tiersen, classical..