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Comic Relief Queen

By Laura Hulley, Music Editor (2008/09) Tuesday 10 March 2009

Laura Hulley talks to The Saturday’s Mollie King.

No one can be blamed for doing a double take when hearing (and seeing) The Saturdays for the first time. Five very pretty girls, unashamedly ‘pop’; traditionally manufactured, packaged and presented to the public as a finished product sometime last July. Sound familiar? I too once dismissed them as Girls Aloud II. They supported Cheryl Cole et al on their 2008 ‘Tangled Up’ Tour. It seems, however, as they release the 2009 Comic Relief Single, that The Saturdays may finally have been accepted as a band in their own right.

“Doing the Comic Relief single is such a big deal, it’s such a compliment to do it”, enthuses the exuberant Mollie. She tells me that they are on a Comic Relief Tour, visiting the projects which the fundraising helps to support all over the UK. So how does one get to do the Comic Relief Single? “They approached us, which was great – it was so flattering to be asked! It’s a huge deal, such a stepping stone for us. It’s really a sign that we’re getting somewhere.”

Getting somewhere they are – all their singles have reached the UK Top 10, and with every Comic Relief Single since 1995 having reached the top spot, that number one does not look far away. So, how are they coping with the limelight? ‘To be honest, we have the best of both worlds. When we’re together, we get recognised, but alone, we don’t. It’s great to be able to get lost in the crowd!”

I’m not sure how Mollie will take the Girls Aloud question, but she is nothing but smiles and courtesy: ‘Oh God – I love them, it’s such a compliment to be compared to them after such a short amount of time. We get on really well. They’re so successful, and nothing but an inspiration”. Diplomatic. So what else inspires such a pure-bred pop group? “As a band, we love The Spice Girls – they conquered the world. For me personally, I love all really poppy stuff: Britney, Justin Timberlake, Paolo Nutini…”

Mollie does in fact play the guitar. She was also in girl band Fallen Angelz, who reached the Judges’ houses stages of X Factor before getting voted off. How does she cope with the ‘you’re-all-style-no- substance-manufactured-pop-trash’ criticism? “We’re proud of being put together by an audition. It’s like http://nouse.co.uk/2009/03/10/comic-relief-queen Archived 10 Dec 2018 21:28:22 Nouse Web Archives Comic Relief Queen Page 2 of 3 an intense job interview – thousands of girls went for it, and we got the job. I think with other bands, like indie bands, that sort of thing maybe goes on but people don’t hear about it as much”. PR school no doubt did the girl wonders, but I get the impression she doesn’t give much time to doubters – an admirable attitude in a fickle industry.

I think it might be the right time to casually drop in the ‘so when are you going to quit music to marry a premiership footballer question’. Her slightly predictable reply was accompanied by a few screeches of laughter: “Oh, no way! Not at all, I love music way too much. Whoever came along, whatever they did, music is the most important thing in my life”.

So where will The Saturdays be a year from now? “Well, we’re recording the second album, but taking it one step at a time”. And in Five years? “World domination. Definitely. To crack America would be amazing.” To boldly go where no girls (Aloud?) have gone before? It’ll be interesting to see where these girls end up. Mollie’s charm is as irresistible as her current rise to fame – whether they last is a different matter.

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