Mandy and Beth of LTTM award winning Best New Artist of 2010 GoldDigger spoke to us about their latest album, their plans for 2011, working in schools and their views on the mainstream media.
For those who haven't heard of Golddigger before, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got involved in making music?
Beth: Well we're Golddigger, we're a band and a registered youth work charity who work particularly with young people, around issues of self worth. Golddigger is myself (Beth Taylor) and Mandy Toombs, plus our lovely backing band of boys, and we've been around... Read MoreMandy and Beth of LTTM award winning Best New Artist of 2010 GoldDigger spoke to us about their latest album, their plans for 2011, working in schools and their views on the mainstream media.
For those who haven't heard of Golddigger before, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got involved in making music?
Beth: Well we're Golddigger, we're a band and a registered youth work charity who work particularly with young people, around issues of self worth. Golddigger is myself (Beth Taylor) and Mandy Toombs, plus our lovely backing band of boys, and we've been around on the music scene in a variety of forms for the last 5 years- in our current line up and with the full band for just over 18 months. We have our own unique brand of girl led rock pop, somewhere between Paramore and Jessie J, but with songs that are written about the issues that we're passionate about communicating to young people... issues like unhealthy relationships, media pressure, self harm and finding your true value in who God says you are.
You've described yourselves as being "on a mission to override the woeful values sold to us by mainstream media". What do you mean by that?
Mandy: The mainstream media have such a lot to answer for regarding so many of the issues we see young people dealing with... so many of the values we are battling to understand are ones that come from the media; how we should look, what we should wear, what our relationships should be like, when and how we should be sexually active, and what attitudes and values we should have, and yet none of the advice they are given seems very well thought out, truthful or even consistent. We want to be a voice out there in all that we do that is honest, challenging and that builds people up.
Tell us a little bit about the work you do in schools and why that's important to you?
Beth: Schools work is really important to us and is a significant part of what we do. We see so many young people really struggling with their self worth, but thankfully lots of them are in great churches or youth groups, with leaders who really want to support and invest in them whilst they struggle through their teenage years. That does however leave us with a massive heart for those young people who don’t have a supportive church or youth leaders, specifically those in schools. We deliver our girls course in schools in Sheffield, and then across the UK, we teach PSHCE as a whole day to 200-300 students at a time- we go in and perform songs, do interactive teaching and get them developing ideas to boost their self esteem and of others. It's such a privilege to be able to speak to thousands of students each year and make an impact on their lives, even through spending just one day with them.
Last year you released your new album 'If Destroyed Still True', can you tell us a bit about the album and what the inspiration behind it was?
Mandy: If Destroyed Still True is our debut full album. It is a good documentation of some great songs that show our heart about certain issues as well as them all being songs which are popular when we gig. As with all of our writing we write sincerely from our own experiences and try to convey something we believe to be important. We're really happy with 'If Destroyed Still True' and its great to be able to share it with our fans.
Which is your favourite track on the album and why?
Mandy: Probably 'Bad Habit' Its a very personal one to me all about finally getting out of the grip of a bad relationship that's had a hold on you. I love the vibe being so upbeat and positive and hope that people in that situation would find it empowering.
Beth: My favourite is 'I Can't Pretend' which was the last song I wrote for the album. It's a bit of a break from our usual style which is refreshing, and I really tried to be honest and talk about how it can sometimes be a struggle trusting God with all of your life, but that God can take it... both the rubbish parts of our lives and our worries about letting him have it all. It's the last song on 'If Destroyed Still True', and it feels like a great way to sum up the album, that we can be scared but still hopeful for the future.
How would you describe your style of music and what are your influences?
Mandy: We tend to describe it as rock-pop-electro... haha I suppose that sounds quite a mix but then it is really. People are often quite surprised how heavy our music is but then putting a female vocal in there tends to take quite heavy music more into the pop genre... and then we have some cool electro bits going on too. There's no one we try to sound like in particular but we've taken a wide mix of influences from Lady hawke, Ellie Goulding, Elastica, Blondie and maybe a bit of Gaga. Some of our sounds are more poppy when we're doing the slightly more satirical thing, like the song Media Rules which is a bit of a fun critique on celebrity culture.
In your opinion, what makes the perfect song?
Mandy: Oooh - good question. It has to be catchy - but then there are too many songs out there that are catchy first time you hear them but then you realise that's just because there's about 3 words in the whole song and they're just repeated for 3 minutes. When I'm writing though I think a good song needs to be catchy- something from the song should get stuck in your head, It has to say something, the chorus has to lift, It needs to have a different rhythm between the different sections so it doesn't bore you to sleep and Beth would say it needs a money note - I don't go for money note songs but a good bridge is a bit of a must! If you want it to be a Christmas number 1 though it will need a key change on the last chorus, some nice bells and some little children in woolly hats.
What advice would you give to any aspiring bands or singers out there?
Beth: It's not as glamorous as it looks??! No, really I'd say to spend a lot of time and effort on your song writing- practice, write all the time, and get good critique over what works and what doesn't. Gig songs, don’t be scared to do a total re-write and stay away from Christian cliches... write honestly rather than trying to fit into someone else's mould.
You're stuck on an island, it's hot, you only have enough battery life left to listen to one song on your mp3 player. What track is it?
Mandy: Ooh that's a tough one... and kind of depends if you mean there's only one song left before you die or only one song before you get rescued, or if there's a big party on the island already but you're music's about to run out... About to die - better play it safe with Amazing Grace! Hmmm maybe Home Again by Carole King or in party mood I'd go for some Kylie.
Beth: Who wants to live forever? By Queen! Well only if I was going to have a dramatic moment on top of a cliff! Otherwise something I could dance to... 'You'll never get to heaven' by Diana Vickers would be good, or a massive worship track- some Gungor maybe!
What does the next year hold for GoldDigger?
Beth: 2011 is already turning into a massive year for us. We've seen the launch of our new girls residential weekend for groups across the UK, got lots of gigs in and are busier than ever. We hope we can publish our girls course this year, plus we’re doing more video teaching for Urban Saints, seeing as many people as possible at festivals, recording a music video and lots and lots more!
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