Baby Queens – Cara, Estelle, Monique, Ruth, and Vanity – are five girls from Cardiff. Two sisters, two cousins, and their adopted sister – each equal parts songwriter, musician and music lover. Last week they released their debut album a melting pot of their empowering brand of pop that’s colourfully assembled from the influences of R ‘n’ B, hip-hop, reggae and rock music. It’s the culmination of a few years hard work for the group who were signed to Cian Ciaran’s (Super Furry Animals) Strangetown record label and started to turn the heads with their 2013 debut single ‘Red Light’.
Produced by Cian, who adds a widescreen and electronic edge to their street sound, that throbs with heart and personality. Their recent single ‘Tired of Love’ is a case in point replete with powerfully soulful vocals, sumptuous pop choruses, and hip-hop breakdowns, it’s he kind of exciting multicultural pop music that offers a message of hope and unity, in a time of Brexit turmoil.
Hi, Baby Queens, how are you?
VANITY: Really good thanks, how are you?
ESTELLE: Good, thank you.
Where does the name Baby Queens come from?
V: Cara came up with the name
Who is in Baby Queens? Where are you from and how did you meet?
E: Baby Queens are Monique, Ruth, Cara, Vanity, Leroy, and Estelle. We’ve all been mates for about six years. Ruth and Monique are cousins; Cara and me are sisters.
V: I met sisters Cara and Estelle through a mutual friend around five or six years ago, we used to jam at their house all the time. One day I had a phone call from Monique who I’d known since we were around 12 or 13, and we invited her round for a jam. She brought her cousin Ruth over and the Baby Queens were born.
What was the first song you ever wrote together?
V: Red Light.
How did you end up on Strangetown records? Is it cool to be on such an eclectic Cardiff label?
V: We were introduced to Cian through Estelle a few years back. It’s been really cool working with and learning from all of his experience.
E: Cian who runs the label is my partner. Yes, it’s cool to be part of it as Cian has years of knowledge in the music industry.
Your first single ‘Red Light’ got you attention from BBC Radio 1 and BBC1Xtra, as well as an appearance at T in the Park, was it an exciting time?
V: Being our first single we really didn’t know what to expect, so it was super exciting and felt almost unreal that we had such a positive response to ‘Red Light’. We are really grateful for BBC Radio 1 and BBC 1xtra’s support.
Baby Queens seems to be a real melting pot of musical influences. Your new single ‘Tired of Love’ mixes R ‘n’ B, hip-hop, reggaeton and pop. Are you trying to produce a sound that’s fresh and real and unique?
E: We never set out to try and make something different; you never know how things will turn out, everyone has their own vision of how the song should sound and sometimes we had to compromise or even start again in the studio until we are all happy with the sound. My influences are extremely varied anyway, so when you add that to a band of totally diverse musical tastes, it naturally ends up a ‘fusion sound’, which is what we like to call our music.
V: We are trying to create real feeling in our music, we believe that everyone can relate to emotions.
Critics have compared your sound to the likes of TLC, All Saints and Portishead. Do you think it’s because you bring your personalities and experience of the street to the sound? Something that is sometimes quite rare in this era of quite clinical very produced R ‘n’ B/pop?
E: To be honest, none of us even listen to those bands, our influences are far and wide. As a band, we are a fusion of soul/pop/gospel/hip-hop/R&B – the electronic influence is added by Cian’s production.
V: Our sound is a fusion of individual taste and life experiences, very often are songs reflect the mood we were in when we write them so yes I would say our personalities play a big part in it.
Monique has said ‘Tired of Love’ is about “when love becomes a game and you’re not a game player. The feeling that you’re constantly chasing something that was never there.” Is it related to any of your personal experience or is it more of a universal theme of unrequited heartbreak that everyone can relate too?
V: The song originated from personal experiences, however, love comes in so many forms that the message and feeling of being tired of love is meant to be universal.
Where was your new video recorded and what was the inspiration behind it?
V: The music video for our latest single ‘Unite’ was shot in Japan, and is based around an elderly Japanese man who owns an audio museum, that was originally his late father’s dojo that got damaged in the earthquake. He’s trying to rebuild and clean up the mess left in the aftermath. You see him looking through old family photos from his childhood, and the connection he had with his late father. The lyrics from the song connect with that backstory and the beautiful location. I got the chance to sing the song directly to the old man via skype; he was dancing and crying to my lyrics, which then started me off crying. It was quite emotional and he’s a sweet man. There’s a lyric in the song where I say “unite like the sunshine,” and for those that don’t know, Japan is also known as the “land of the rising sun,” so there’s that little connection there too.
You have played festivals like The Great Escape, Boomtown, T in the Park, X Fest, and Swn festival which has been your favourite so far? Which one would you love to play?
V: Favourite so far has been The Great Escape, would love to play Glastonbury Festival.
Which album track would you like people to listen to when they get the album?
V: All of them! To be honest most people have said they have their personal favourites but they are always different to some one else’s
E: We each write different tunes on the album and the beauty of an album is that it’s a body of work. We’re hoping that people will be interested in the whole thing rather than hearing just one track.
Your debut album sounds very eclectic is it your intention to provide something fresh and a new message with each track you put together as Baby Queens?
E: I think we want to provide an honest message along the lines of ‘we are friends who like to play music and sing together.’ Each track is personal to whoever wrote it (all the tracks are written/co-written by different band members on the album). Everything we write is just a true reflection of our lives.
V: We all just love making music, you never really know what it’s gonna be in the beginning if it feels right we go with it.
Cian Ciaran (Super Furry Animals) produced your album, what do you think he brought to the recordings?
E: He made what could have been a generic R ‘n’ B/soul/pop record have a special vibe and put his own sound to it that many SFA fans may recognise and appreciate.
V: Definitely experience as well as time and hard work we can’t thank him enough; he’s a genius when it comes to production and we all feel blessed to have him on board.
What records do you listen to in your tour van?
E: Sometimes we like to listen to ’90s Detroit techno on our way to a gig to get ourselves in the mood and then something more chilled on the journey home.
V: It varies all the time really. Usually something uplifting.
Which current Welsh artists of any genre do you enjoy?
E: Welsh artists we like would be Plu, Alys Williams, Hippies vs Ghosts, Accu, FFUG, Gwenno and Ani Saunders, Castles.
V: There’s so many to choose from but right now I like what I’m hearing from Afro Cluster who are brilliant live as well as Reuel Elijah.
Who would you like to collaborate with?
V: I would love to collaborate with Major Lazor,
You’ve spoken in the past about providing a positive message and its ability to unite people, do you think with the current backdrop of Brexit that it’s important to give a message of hope and commonality to young people of all races?
E: Absolutely. It was important before the British people voted to leave the EU and it;s even more important now. It’s sickening to see how this ‘Brexit’ has given some people ‘the right’ to be openly racist and admit to hating multiculturalism. I got myself really wound up on the day it happened; I read too many hateful comments and saw so much hate on Twitter and Youtube etc. I think all these people need serious help. They need to see the truth in this world and the effect their hatred is having on this planet. They need to open their minds, that’s for sure.
V: Definitely, there’s is power in love and strength in unity. I think each band member would agree that we believe we are one race which is humanity, and it’s important to find the beauty in every situation.
Do you have any gigs coming up?
V: Our next gig is at The Bedford Live in Balham, South London on Wednesday 2nd November, and we are performing for ILUVLIVE at The Square Club in Bristol on Tues 15th November.
What are your future plans?
V: To make more music and share it with the world, and tour the world.
