Interview: Nadia Oh

When 2011 is looked back on in history, one wonders how it will be remembered culturally. With a bit of luck Rebecca Black and her ilk will have faded away through the ages like a bad dye job. Here at So So Gay we sincerely hope that Nadia Oh, however, will be venerated by future scholars and academics. When we first heard her single ‘Taking Over The Dancefloor (Kate Middleton)’ we didn’t really know quite what to make of it. Bathed in enough autotune to turn Britney into Kate Bush, it took us a while to finally get our heads around the fact that this is Nadia Oh’s thing. In the same way that Lady Gaga converts proscuittuo and parma into amazing clothing, Nadia Oh takes observational, wry and ironically shallow lyrics and, with Space Cowboy’s production, makes brilliant music. Simple. Some have even doubted that she’s a real person, but a strange studio experiment fronted by a pretty lady. Here’s your proof…

SSG: What made you wake up and decide one day ‘I, Nadia Oh, want to be a popstar’?

Nadia Oh: Who wouldn’t want to be a popstar?!

So how did you first end up working with Space Cowboy?

We live in the same area so I introduced myself and it went from there!

For those not familiar with it, describe Moombahton, the genre of music on Colours that’s getting a lot of attention.

Technically there are only two Moombahton tracks on the album. I just really like the good style that’s coming out of California that mixes all these awesome Dutch and Euro influences.

You know that there’s a rumour online that you’re not actually a real performer, but a studio vocalist’s voice and a model put together to create ‘Nadia Oh’. What do you make of all that?

I think that’s cool, and it made me giggle! But I do work a lot on my music!

While many performers pretend they’re not using autotune and vocoders, you’ve utterly embraced it. Why do you think there’s that stigma?

I don’t think it’s a stigma; everyone uses autotune and tricked out vocoders to make a track pop. It sounds cool I think.

Your lyrics are brilliantly witty. How do you go about writing your songs?

I don’t take myself too seriously. We just get in the studio, have fun and bang the song out! The title usually comes first though.

Would you say the recording process with Colours was different to that of Hot Like Wow?

The recording process was technically pretty much the same, but I’ve grown a lot as an artist and I think that’s really come through on my new album.

With Colours, are there any new tracks or old ones being removed for the later physical release?

My new song ‘No Bueno’ will definitely be on the CD as well as ‘Follow Me To The Dancefloor’, and maybe another one. I’m recording all the time!

When is the physical release likely to happen?

Hopefully this year. I like physical albums; it adds cool pictures and stuff!

Are there any further singles planned?

‘No Bueno’ is the next song that will be released soon, and others will definitely follow!

Who actually makes your YouTube viral videos, and can we expect any full music videos, such as ‘My Egyptian Lover’ and ‘N.A.D.I.A. O.H.’ again?

We just put them together so there is more with the music than just an mp3. We can at least easily shoot a viral to go with the songs with an iphone and stuff, but yes, there’ll be full videos soon!

What do you get up to when you’re not recording music? Do you have another job?

I’m literally always recording! I try and do the gym as much as can, and I also make great cupcakes!

Do you have any live performances planned anytime soon?

I’m actually working on a live show at the moment and have some gigs in the pipeline. I’ll be posting on Twitter as soon as it’s all confirmed!

The album Colours is available now to download from Amazon.co.uk. For more information visit Nadia’s Facebook page and follower her on Twitter @NadiaOh