Nick and Sue. This edition is brought to you
in association with the Steel Union for men's
gifts, presents and problem solving men's accessories.
More from them in a bit. Chatterbox. When the
stars talk, they talk to Nick and Sue. This is
Nick and Sue with Chatterbox giving you all you
need to know about musical entertainment. Oh,
yeah! Chatterbox! And now in Chatterbox, we're
just lucky enough to welcome back Kelly LaRocque.
Kelly, welcome back. How are you? Hello, Kelly.
I'm great. Thanks for having me again. I appreciate
it. You're welcome. Great. Last time we spoke,
you just brought out Creep and the most amazing
cover of all time. And like I said at the time
and the comments in the chat room on the hit
and miss show and things. Nobody would ever have
imagined that someone could pull off a cover
of Creep. You not only pulled it, it was just
so amazing. And I hope the guys at Radiohead,
I hope that they're just so... pleased with how
it's come out it was amazing so there we go I
mean apparently they don't perform it anymore
so hopefully their fans like it and like enjoy
the the new birth I've given to it totally but
amazing uh yeah you just got a classic song and
just turned it on its head and of course that
is what of course uh doing a cover is all about
because there's no But I don't know how a top
female artist could do the same as Radiohead
anyway, but you definitely made it your own,
as we said at the time, and that most amazing
video, the film noir short with it. That brings
us to the summer of 2026 and we got another new
release, another great cover, co -written by
Prince, this one. But what we do first, what
about the song? Now, it's taken from an album.
Singers, Inc. Volume 3, I've got Trinity here,
12 songs. reimagined and recorded by a powerful
roster of UK vocalists. So who's behind that?
Is it a record company? Or do you guys work together
and come up with the album? Well, how does this
work? So Singers, Inc. is a division of my agent,
one of the agencies I work with, which is called
International Collective. So they have Dancers,
Inc, Singers, Inc. You know, they represent choreographers,
actors, models, that sort of thing. But every,
you know, so often we do a big project together
where we all come together. together as creatives
and create this work. So that will be like stuff
that we do with the videos and stuff. So all
the different singers, the dancers, the actors
will work together on all these different compilations
and we create this artwork if you like. So this
is the third album that we've done. Chris is
like one of my best friends. He runs the agency
and he is like the creative mastermind behind
it all. And we are both huge Prince fans. So
this song, he suggested it and obviously Martika
did her own version, but you know, as Prince
fans and as you know, Prince always, even if
he writes a song for somebody, he always has
to do his own version, doesn't he? So Prince's
version of this is sublime as well. And I was
like, yes, let's do this one. That's cool. I'd
love to have them cover, of course, with the
12 empty chairs as well. One for each track.
I think that's pretty good. It was the first
thing I noticed. Obviously it was blatantly obvious,
but I'll just count them quickly. Just to be
sure. In case it wasn't as blatant as I said.
Okay, so we've got this track. So you're both,
both you and Chris, are both keen, you know,
Prince fans but whose idea was it to cover this
particular song? I think actually Chris mentioned
it and then I was like yes I love the idea of
it because it's not an obvious one you know what
I mean? I think like the obvious Prince things
would be like Diamonds and Pearls, Kiss, Purple
Rain, this is more of an obscure one but it's
a really beautiful song. I tell you something
you mentioned Purple Rain I would love to hear
you do a cover of Purple Rain. Oh yes. Jazz style.
Jazz style? Jazz style, like you're in your club
on a Wednesday night or whatever. You know what,
me and my band would do a big rehearsal scene
because what we do is we submit loads of new
songs and then we... and then we iron them out
and then we go and then we do a big rehearsal
so we've got like new repertoire for the new
year so I will definitely but that would take
some hashing so if we're going to do it jazz
style but I've got I've got the horn section
so we could make that work for sure that could
definitely happen. You're the girl for the job
just when you mentioned it I thought Kelly you'd
be you'd just be amazing. That would be purple
rain but with a twist so then it was yeah I mean
it's doing an obvious print song which I get.
Yeah. No, I could just... Well, you put such
a twist on it, it would sound different to...
Well, I'm even imagining how you would do it
jazz style, but it would be amazing, it would.
So, what's this space? You'd probably come back
with other Prince songs, but that one in particular
you mentioned, and I thought, yeah, now that's
the one. So, there we go. Okay, so... Have you
been involved with any of these projects before?
I see this is volume three. Oh, I was there right
from the beginning. I was one of the first people
ever signed to his agency because obviously we've
been friends since we were like 17 years old.
So yeah, this has been an ongoing labour of love.
No, labour's wrong. project of love because it's
not it's not hard work when you enjoy it you
do so yeah it's just been a ongoing project of
love the only thing i would say is that i feel
i said to him like we our next album has to be
original work like we've done we've done these
amazing extraordinary covers now our next one
has to be just all original work that's something
to look forward to yeah and is this one one volume
a year or is there no set period of time on how
that gets released set period of time because
i think volume one was Probably about 10 years
ago, if I'm completely honest, yes. When I look
back at the videos we've done back then, I look
so young, so yeah. You still do. We all look
a bit younger 10 years ago. You still look good,
Kelly, you do. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Yeah,
my new album is still pending. I've just been
shooting videos. I've just shot the third video
from my own personal album project. And yeah,
I'm just trying to just prepare myself and line
all my ducks up in a row and then I'll be ready
to put it out into the world. But you'll know
about it. You'll hear about it. Don't worry.
I'm sure. I have no doubt. Well, I'm impatient.
Well, I did say we'd be talking. We are talking
about it now, but we'll be talking about it next
time as well. So in two months or six months,
we'll be talking about that then. So you're actually
busy doing videos. You're doing a video for each
track, are you? Not for each track, but I'm doing,
I think, six videos. So I'm on the third video
now. This is a two -day shoot, so we're doing
another day on Monday. Then we've got another
day shooting, and then I've got one more live
video, then I'm going to do two AI videos. So,
yeah. Six videos. Some of these younger artists
now, and I mean the real young ones like in their
20s and early 20s, their promoters are sending
stuff for us to listen to, and they call them
albums. They've got six tracks on, so you're
doing six videos for your, for your, towards
your album. That's an EP, no? It's an EP. Four
to six tracks to me was an EP. Yeah. An album?
We'll at least make it seven and put a remix
or something on it. I know. Seriously. I think
with these newcomers and the new way music is
absorbed by young people, they're instantaneous.
I think they probably feel like if they sent
a young person an album with 10 songs in it,
they'd be like, oh, that's too many songs to
listen to. Do you know a lot of 10? Jesus, it's
so too many. They're like, six is a good number
for them. They're like, yeah, it's not too much.
I could listen to six songs. It's still an EP
though, whichever way we look at it. Yeah, it's
an EP. It's not an LP by any stretch. But you
know, the joy of like, I remember like getting
albums and like opening up the album and looking
at all the pictures and reading all the lyrics
and just really absorbing all that, even before
you even put the record on the player, like just
really... enjoying the wholeness of the music
before you even listen to it. And I do miss that
experience because obviously music now is digital
and there's not a lot of tangible music out there
anymore, which is something that I want to address
with my album release. I'm doing like a big lookbook
with like all the lyrics in it and stuff and
like little behind the scenes pictures of shooting
the videos. So you feel more like encompassed
in the world as I was creating it, you know?
Good idea. Is there a way of saying this? I'll
just say it, I never mean to be rude, but we
are of a very similar age, Kelly, and that's
if Wikipedia says, I'm sure they're wrong by
about 10 years at least, but that's what Wikipedia
says, so we are pretty close, and of course we're
of the age where we would open an album open
it up, have your little cards and your pictures
inside and all your lyrics written inside and
the smell of the vinyl. It was a massive experience,
wasn't it? It was. It was. And I loved that whole
aspect of it so much. I mean, the only thing
I would say about vinyl was just you were just
petrified that you would scratch it. And then
that was it. You scratched it now. There's nothing
you can do about it. But like, like all my like.
Best albums, like my favourite albums, like I've
got my whole Prince collection in vinyl and they're
just like literally, they're all in plastic sleeves,
like they're just like my collectors, you know,
items, like just my collectibles, yeah, because
you can't beat it, you can't beat it. Absolutely
sick. Kelly, if you could sing a song with Prince,
which song of Prince's song would you sing with
him? Oh god, he's got so many amazing songs.
Oh wow. Oh gosh. Maybe nothing compares to you
because he obviously originally wrote it and
then he wrote it for Sinead O 'Connor and then
he did a version with Rosie Gaines. So I would
be Rosie Gaines in this one and I would do it
with him. And also because it would be paying
homage to him because as far as I'm concerned
no other artist compares to him. Sure. So brilliant.
And do you still have your residency? I assume
you do. Is it every Wednesday? Is it your place
there? Every Wednesday, sheesh, Mayfair. I think
it's 61 to 65 to 67 on Piccadilly. It's just
opposite the Ritz, opposite the Wosley. Come
out of Green Park station, take a left, second
place on the corner. I'm there every Wednesday
with my band. Yes. It's amazing. It's amazing.
Brilliant. Other projects you have done over
the years is, of course, Basement Jacks. You
did say that you'd been far too busy when we
spoke last time to be able to do anything with
them. Last time they went out, I know you're
still very, very busy. I know, yeah. I think
they're doing a little talk, because they just
did the Soho House Festival. They headlined that.
And they have been, like, LA and a few places
like that, because obviously I follow them and
watch them and see what's happening. But yeah,
but they're lovely guys. They're lovely guys.
And I'm glad that they're out on the road again,
because I remember what... When we did the last
tour, they were like, that's it, we're done with
touring now. But yeah, they're back on the road,
so that's nice. It's great that they did tour
because they are. Not predominantly, I don't
know what the right wording is, because there's
a lot of studio work goes into the mixing on
their tracks and that. So to go out on tour,
I dare say they've got the PowerPoint behind
them and everything else with the video. I mean,
I imagine it's quite an experience. It is a huge
experience. And one big part of their show would
be also that they love costumes. So we'd all
be in costumes and we'd go and they'd design
it. They'd get someone to design it also. The
last tour that I did, we were the weather. So
then I had a cat suit, which was like, it was
like the universe. So the fabric was specially
created and it had the universe all over it.
And then I had a skirt and it was like a cloud.
And then it had a sash, which was a rainbow.
And then I had a hat, which was the sun. And
then in the second half, I took off the sash
and the skirt, and then it went from the sun
to the moon. And I'm like, I'm just... privacy
around on stage dressed in wonderful weather,
like it's the best job ever. Absolutely. It was,
of course, Romeo that got me to notice Basement
Jacks. And of course, you are doing the vocal
on Romeo. I am. Then once I was aware of Basement
Jacks, I mean, enough for me to still be buying
CD singles, put it that way. So then material
afterwards. And then it was enough to get me
aware because there was that wonderful video
went with it as well with your voice on it. It
was very well done. The Bollywood video as well.
The whole thing. I was like, why did you use
me? I would have eaten up a Bollywood video I
would have loved that so much. It was a great
video. It was a great video. Didn't they do well?
I remember it so well to this day. You know,
it really was a classic. Yeah, very well done.
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If we say what you're doing in six months, because
we've covered it really, certainly in six months
we'll be talking about the album, won't we? Within
that period. I believe so. I believe in six months
everything would be... tied up in a neat bow
and I'll be starting the rollout. So yes, I believe
that to be occurring and I'm really excited about
it. But it's so mad as a creative, like you do,
you go through these phases of like, oh my God,
this is going to be amazing. Oh my God, everyone's
going to hate it. But I am really proud of what
I've created. I think because I'm from an old
school era when it comes to music, like consuming
it, creating it, listening to it, I've tried
to do that with what I'm doing within this project.
And also I've tried to cater to people more of
my own age because, yes, whilst you might go
to a label and they're like, oh no, that's too
long, people don't listen to sounds, I'm going
to do three minutes. You got to cut it down,
make it three minutes. And it's like, no, because
I'm from the era when we listen to a seven minute
song and we and we enjoyed it and we were sad
it ended. I really tried to be mindful and also
with this album, I wanted to create a collection
of songs that had like a feeling of like, oh,
I know this song. So they've got this kind of
like nostalgia within them. And also, you know,
I wanted to like give the idea of that they could
be using movies and adverts. So that's how they
were kind of produced around that aspect, obviously,
with my live band as well. It's a live band album
as well. It's like my other albums are studio
recording, but this is with my band. So it is.
all live. I just yeah I just hope it's just grown
music for grown people. I just feel like it's
timeless and I've made the videos in such a way
that... you envisage what i was trying to say
when i'm like the storytelling aspect of it like
being good for an advert or good for a movie
i've just made like mini movies and so this is
almost like part of the soundtrack of this mini
movie i think i wanted to ask you was because
obviously there's a lot of planning and thought
goes into your releases and your work these days
going back to when you were having the hits let's
go back to the 90s and the and the noughties
was the Were you able to bring out what you wanted
to bring out back then or was the pressure from
record companies more and you felt your hands
were tied? How did it work originally? Oh, all
of that. Hands were tied, pressure. I would say
that they, so I went to LA and I went and wrote
the album. There was like a couple songs that
were the chosen singles that were written. But
I still had approval like, you know, whether
or not I liked the songs and went in and recorded
them. But definitely hands tied in regards to
like literally... every song that I recorded
was remixed and just made to just be a little
bit more poppy. Whereas I think back then, you
know, my influences were heavy, like R &B, soul,
American female artists. And so that that aspect
was like kind of diminished through these remixes
and made them a bit more pop, which I don't really
have a problem with. I don't have a problem with
pop music, but I think it diminished the tracks
because the reason why I wrote them and what
inspired me to write them was because I was inspired
by the music, you know, the original music. And
even like with things like I remember once I
changed my hairstyle, we had an emergency meeting
about it. It's just like... I, you know, when
I did my album launch at the Criterion Theatre
and I designed this, I had this outfit designed,
and yes it was a bit out there, but you know,
I am a bit ostentatious and I'm a creative and
it was like, it was like a... It was leather,
but it looked like crocodile skin and it was
green and I made like, it was like green pants,
a green strappy top and a green jacket. And I
was like, this is what I'm wearing. And they
were like, no, you're not. And I was like, yes,
I am. We had a whole emergency meeting about
that too. But in the end we compromised and I
wore it for half. And then I changed into something
else in the other half. But yes, there was a
lot of that going on. And I obviously was very
young as well. And You know, that was always
kind of used as a weapon against me. Like, you're
very young, you know, you don't know this industry
the way we do. But the one thing I would I would
like to say to like young people getting into
the industry as artists, you know, people that
write, create their own music, create their own
vibe, create their own look. Like, don't ever
let anyone diminish that in you because that's
what makes you you. That's what makes you unique.
That's what makes you stand out. and yeah I feel
sad that I wasn't as adamant and I wasn't as
sure -footed in that but you know again and that
just comes with you know being wiser older growing
learning evolving but back then I was like respectfully
I should have just said yes but I'm an artist
and this is my art and I and I you know I I please
would love you to respect that yeah of course
all these yeah 25 years to 30 years on. You're
still here as the artist. They probably may not
even be here, let alone in the business anymore.
But another big aspect of the whole thing about
the hair and the outfit and that, the outfits
and the hair and the wigs and all that is a major
part of Kelly La Rock. Yes, exactly. Exactly.
It's mad because You know, obviously, again,
hindsight is a wonderful thing. Like, you know,
if I'd have known then what I know now, I'd have
been like, these are the things that are gonna
make me, not break me. So just let me be me,
you know what I mean? So, but again, like I said,
I was young, you know, and I was impressionable.
And obviously I'm somebody who likes to take
advice from my elders and they were all my elders.
So at the time I was like, okay, you know better,
you know best, you know. But when it came to
that outfit, I was not, I was not, That was like,
no, I'm wearing this outfit. I paid money for
it. I'm wearing it. Brilliant. Brilliant. OK,
Kelly, so definitely been always got an open
invite. So let's talk about the album when it's
out. And that's a must. I think you said 10 tracks,
so let's talk about all 10 of the tracks. A real
album, a real proper mixing album, yes. And the
reason why I want to say, let's talk about, oh
it only needs to be a couple of minutes or so,
well each song will have as long as you want,
but I like to get, because I know that so much
thought and planning goes into each song, I'd
like to know what's behind that thought process.
Absolutely great. Before we let you go Kelly,
let's do your social media and tell people how
they can find out a bit more about you and all
your platforms please. Just at Kelly Little Rock
everything so that's K -E -L -E -L -E -R -O -C
that's on my Insta which copies over to my Facebook
so if you ever message me on Facebook and I'm
a little bit long getting back to you just find
me on my Insta because I'm more active on there
and you will think I'm active on the Facebook
but it's just because everything's copied over
onto that, do you know what I mean? I'm also
on TikTok and I live stream Sheesh every Wednesday
on my TikTok. I live stream the sound check and
then I live stream the show. So you can follow
that, which is really cool, yeah. I have ladies
like come in and they're like from Texas and
Florida and then even like, I think they were
from Grenada and they were, and I was like, oh,
you know, they were like, we came to see you
and I was like, how did you hear about it? And
they're like, we saw your TikTok. And I was like,
wow. And that is the power of social media and
the internet. Yeah. Isn't it? I know. Yeah. So
they were in London and they were like, oh, we
need to go to that place we've seen on TikTok.
Cause it looks cool. You know? So they, yeah,
they came down, which is really great. So yeah,
I live stream on TikTok. I'm also on, is it Twitter,
which is now called, is it called X now? Yeah,
yeah. Yeah. And that's just at Kelly La Rock
or one word as well. So literally at Kelly La
Rock on everything. Cool. And of course, there's
a real good presence on YouTube as well. I mean,
hopefully we can have people download it pain
to download the album and that. But you know
what? I had a YouTube from years ago. And then
when Google took YouTube over, they associated
my Gmail account with my YouTube. And so then
it locked me out of my account and I couldn't
get in. And I spent months trying to get it back,
but no one would help me because I wasn't monetized.
I didn't have enough, you know, viewings. So
they just kept sending me through a basic process.
And I mean, maybe now things might have changed.
I might be able to get it back. But effectively,
I had to start a new YouTube. So and I haven't
kicked So I will probably start uploading stuff
to this new YouTube, but my old YouTube, it's
still there. It's Kelly La Rock TV, but yeah,
I can't get into it anymore. So my new one is
called La Rock Life, yeah. the only way you stand
a chance of getting in maybe I know there's a
way of getting in once you're locked out if you
still got the device originally probably not
but the device you originally had access to it
like it was a pc or something you could still
get it that way there's my old macbook but i
don't know if my old macbook would even log on
the internet anymore you know they just do up
all the upgrades and then they just make it obsolete
yeah you can't even use it anymore i could try
but yeah they basically they locked me out Well,
your stuff is so good. They wanted it all to
themselves, you see. That must be it. They must
be it. Anyway, Kelly, we'll let you go just in
case you have got one at half past, but just
let us say, just for the sake of the interview,
Kelly LaRocque. Thank you for coming on Chatterbox.
Thank you so much for coming back. Thank you
for having me again. I appreciate you. Thank
you so much. Looking forward to the next time.
Looking forward to the next time already, Kelly.
You take care and every success. Have a great
weekend. Bye bye. Bye. Bye. This is Nick and
Sue, a chatterbox giving you all you need to
know about music.