Listen Up! Music Interview: Rebecca Ferguson

Doron
By Doron Last edited 148 months ago
Listen Up! Music Interview: Rebecca Ferguson


Before becoming a contestant on last year's X-Factor, Rebecca Ferguson used to come down to London from her hometown, Liverpool, on a fairly regular basis, in an endeavour to forge a music career for herself.

And then, well, then X-Factor happened and, whilst she didn't win the competition (coming a close second to Matt Cardle), Ferguson was offered a record deal by Epic Records and has, since, settled down in London permanently.

Here she tells us a bit more about her London experience.

What is your first memory of coming to London?
[whispering giddily] Oooh, I love London. Ummm... I remember being on a coach - is it Park Lane? Those big posh hotels and the car show-rooms? Yeah, I remember driving around there. Actually, that's probably my first big memory but the very first time I came to London was with my auntie, Lorna. I was about 7 or 8 and I remember going to Leicester Square.

Most of your album was recorded here...
Yeah, some of it was done in New York but we did a lot of the recording in London in [producer] Eg White's house in West London.

How soon after X-Factor finished did you start working on the record?
Pretty much straight away, in January this year.

It was, of course, for the X-Factor that you initially moved down to London. What was that like?
It was hard. But I had travelled to London a lot before - I was always trying to make it down here [laughs] but it was hard because it was like living in a big student house. It was messy, everyone leaving food around, sharing rooms. But it was fun as well. I had my kids young and I had been used to being a full-time mum, so moving to London was a bit like going on holiday camp.

And do your kids have a particular favourite thing about London?
At the minute I think it's just the new house that we're living in and the garden - it's a lot bigger than the place we had up North so they love that. And they love their friends here.

Do you get the chance to go out and do stuff around London as a family?
Not so much, at the moment. Mainly because there's not much time. Also, the house is so big and we have such a big garden that the kids keep very occupied at home [laughs]. We don't live too far from Chessington so I think that is going to be the next family outing.

What's your favourite London spot?
La Famiglia on the King's Road - it's a gorgeous Italian restaurant!

And what do you make of London pubs?
I went to a pub lunch in... I think it was Kensington, not long ago. It was lovely. The pubs are so posh here, though! They're not like northern pubs. You get all kinds of posh food, it's not just fish'n'chips... [laughs]

Name something that, for you, London has which Liverpool hasn't got and vice-versa.
The clothes shops! Liverpool hasn't got a Harrods [laughs]. But then London hasn't got the scouse humour!

Rebecca Ferguson's new single, Nothing's Real But Love, is out now. The album, Heaven, comes out on 5 December.

Last Updated 28 November 2011