Oh My!’s Jade and Alex

If there’s one thing I promise to never, ever tire of, it’s girl bands. From wistfully wishing I could rock a condom under my left eye with the same finesse as TLC’s Lisa ‘Left-Eye’ Lopez, to truly believing I would one day backflip in unison with Sporty Spice (never happened, but I’ve still got the Adidas popper trousers) you name the band and I’ve obsessed over them.

So you can imagine my excitement at hearing I was scheduled for a chat with brand new bona fide girl band Oh My! While the duo aren’t quite styling contraception as fashion statements just yet, Alex and Jade (signed to 679, home to The Streets, Little Boots and Marina and the Diamonds) are well on their way to being seriously cool.

So your first single is called Run This Town? I’ve seen the video and loved it.

Jade: ‘Yay!’

Alex: ‘Well, we’ve actually got a new one coming out soon but yeah, the first single was Run This Town.

What’s the new single called?

Alex: ‘Kicking & Screaming!‘

Oooh, what’s it about?

Jade: ‘It’s basically a follow-on from Run This Town, so it’s the events that happen after that.’

Alex: ‘We went back to Copenhagen where our first video was shot, and it’s literally about us running around, kicking and screaming!’

Was Run This Town Rihanna-influenced perchance or was that a happy coincidence?

*silence*

You know – *sung awkwardly* ‘We gonna run this town tonight….’

Alex: ‘Haha! Complete coincidence!’ Probably a good thing!’

So I hear Oh My!’s name was inspired by the US singer Tweet, is that true?

Alex: ‘Yeah, yeah! We loved that song growing up so we thought it was a really good thing to base our career around. It’s just a good, cool name that we both could relate to.’

I used to love that song too! Although it was pretty raunchy wasn’t it?

Jade: ‘Yeah it was quite sexy and straight to the point.’

Totally. And didn’t it have Missy Elliot in it? Even cooler.

Jade: ‘Yeah, yeah. Missy Elliot just says all the dirty bits!’

So Tweet and Missy aside, who are Oh My! influenced by?

Jade: ‘Well, you’ve got to start with the really influential powerful girl bands like Destiny’s Child and All Saints. Obviously The Spice Girls have got to be thrown in there. And now we go from being into Katy B, Tinie Tempah, Plan B; all of those guys.’

What about Example, I heard you guys might be working with him?

Jade: ‘Ah yeah we worked with Example, he’s a big influence. His songs are really punchy and they’ve got a really strong story behind them. We like to sing about things that are kind of meaningful that people can relate to.’

I get the feeling you guys are pretty into fashion. Who was it rocking the leopard print coat in Run this Town? Jade?

Jade: ‘Yeah! That was me! With fashion we kind of just mix and match everything. Stuff that you wouldn’t put together we try and put together. But at the same time we need to feel comfy. We’re not high maintenance but yeah, we do love fashion and keeping up to date with all of it.’

Alex: ‘We don’t want to look like we just walked out of Topshop or walked into one shop and bought it outright, all head-to-toe! So we like to mix it up.’

Where are Oh My! from?

Alex: ‘Jade is from Milton Keynes and I’m from Leicester.’

Do you spend a lot of time in London?

Jade: ‘Yeah we both live in London now, we live in Dalston together.’

So what’s your favourite thing to do in London?

Alex: ‘Well you can’t beat a bit of a Tinsel Town Milkshake! I like the Dime Bar one.’

Jade: ‘I think the most amazing thing about London is you never have to be in the same place twice. There are so many different things to try and we like just going around trying new places.’

Alex: ‘And you obviously can’t beat the shopping!’

Now you’re speaking my language. Where are Oh My!’s favourite shops?

Jade: ‘I like Beyond Retro, Topshop, Urban Outfitters, that sort of vibe.’

Alex: ‘Yeah, Topshop, H&M…the high street, literally.’

Er, so random question…Where would Oh My! recommend we get a takeaway in London?

Jade: ‘Our favourite place to eat is probably Nandos! We spend a lot of our time in Nandos. But I like to sit inside when I eat. So I feel really awful saying it but probably KFC for takeaways!’

Alex: ‘There’s also a really nice Chinese in Dalston called Shanghai and it’s really authentic Chinese, we like that.’

So what do you girls do with an afternoon off in London?

Alex: ‘Ooh it depends what the weather’s like.’

Jade: ‘Yeah, if it’s sunny I’d probably get in touch with friends and sit in a park.

If it was raining…

Alex: ‘I’d be cinema all the way if it’s raining.’

Jade: ‘I hate the cinema so I’d rather go home and watch a film and chill on my own sofa.’

So what’s next? You’ve got the new single coming out?

Alex: ‘Kicking and Screaming is released this week online and then at the end of the summer our first official single will be out on iTunes.’

Jade: ‘And we’ve got loads of gigs coming up, we’ve just done London Pride. One that we’re really excited for is the Hoxton Pony on July 21. That’s the one we’re leading up to, so we’ve been setting up our live band. And obviously recording, we’ve got loads of songs coming in.’

Sounds busy! So this is a bit weird, but I spent all last night sorting and cleaning my makeup collection because I’m a bit obsessed with it. Do Oh My! Have weird obsessions?

Jade: ‘Well, I don’t collect them but I’m a really big fan of candles. I think it’s a sort of an obsession but I didn’t realise it.’

Alex: ‘I tell you what, it’s not that weird but I’ve got a thing about having loads of DVDs. Because I’ve just got this vision for when I buy my own house and – have you seen the film The Holiday? – Well, you know in Cameron Diaz’s house, she’s got that wall full of DVDs? That is my aim!’

I like it! So Jade is obsessed with candles and Alex is collecting DVDs? Between you and me, this is one girl band I could totally be in…

For more details about Oh My! visit their official website.