Interview: Xelle

Xelle: More balls than your average girlband.

We’re living with something of a plethora of girlbands these days. With their backcombed hair, fake eyelashes (sometimes from their own range) and wardrobe nicked straight off the mannequins of Topshop, they  all seem to be blurring into one samey uniform soup these days. And while there’s often been the joke that in every girl group there’s ‘the one who looks like a man’, that’s never actually been the case (as far as we know) … until now. Enter XELLE, with more spunk, literally, than your average girl group. The band consists of ladies Rony, JC and special third, err, member Mimi Imfirst, who some of you might remember as a contestant on the most recent series of RuPaul’s Drag Race. But rather than being a cheesy novelty act or a bit of a crap joke, they’re actually rather brilliant. With their attitude-filled debut single ‘Party Girl’ setting the blogosphere alight with excitement, they’ve got the talent to back up their ambitions – which they were all too happy to chat about.

SSG: How was XELLE first formed?

XELLE: You know when you’re in the right place at the right time? That’s basically what happened. The three of us were at a karaoke party at one of our favorite bars and we ended up on stage singing together and the rest will be music history!

What made you decide on the name XELLE? I Googled it and turns out it’s also the name for a ladies hair-removal epilator.

Wow, who knew?! We chose the name because ‘elle‘ is French for ‘girl’ and we’re a girl group with something ‘X-tra’! Our name celebrates the XELLENT parties we like to rock out at until the sun comes up!

What did each of you do before joining the band?

One of our favorite things about being in XELLE is that we came from such different life experiences. Rony was in musical theatre and songwriting and had a single released with Sony and Rise Sport for the FIFA World Cup compilation album. JC was a dance-pop artist dominating the downtown New York club scene, and Mimi is the number one drag queen in NYC. Together, the three of us are unstoppable, so get on the party train!

Mimi, had you always wanted to be in a girl band?

I’ve always wanted to do everything! I always knew I was going to take over the world, but never knew exactly how. When Rony and JC and I met, it became clear to me that I couldn’t live my life without singing with these girls every day!

Which girl bands influence XELLE? Something tells me you’re more Supremes than Eden’s Crush!

Thank you! It’s an honor to be compared to any of the great girl bands in music history. All of these groups have influenced us. We love the dramatic flair of the Supremes and Eden’s Crush put out great music. Ever since the Spice Girls split, there has been a huge void for really fun music that throws caution to the wind. We know there are a lot of people out there craving some super fun girl group to electrify the world with awesome pop music and outrageous antics, and we are excited to give the people what they want!

I think what’s really cool about XELLE as a group is although there’s something [ahem] slightly different about one of the girls, it doesn’t take over the entire project. Mimi, you’re not Nicole with the Pussycat Dolls!

Definitely not! Rony and JC are such amazing singers. I couldn’t imagine going on stage without them. We each bring something different to the table, and I think that’s what makes XELLE so fabulous. Drag solo acts have been done before, and so have regular girl groups, but it’s the three of us combined in one group that makes this something really special.

Do you still have the occasional bitchfight?

Not at all. We love working together and we’re having the times of our lives! Besides, fighting totally is a buzz kill. We’ll leave the bitchfights up to some actual bitches.

What does RuPaul think of XELLE?

Ru is amazing. We hope she’s enjoying the song. Drag Race has been really great about spreading the word about our new video for ‘Party Girl’.

The video for ‘Party Girl’ looks like it was a lot of fun to film. Tell us all about it.

It was one of the most fun things we’ve ever done. It took an enormous amount of work, moving parts, and help from our friends and families, but the process was a party from start to finish. We were nervous as hell, because the entire thing hinged on filming the video without a permit on a moving train. Not to mention, dancing in high heels on a train that is stopping, starting and swerving all over is not an easy task! Some dance diva angels must have been on our side ’cause we pulled it off. We’re just so happy that the video has gone viral and everyone is partying to it!

Do you have any plans to release ‘Party Girl’ anywhere else aside from US and UK iTunes?
The response to “Party Girl” and its music video has been amazing, and we’re currently negotiating plans to release and promote our music around the world. “Party Girl” is currently in heavy rotation on Melbourne, Australia’s JOY FM, and it’s also on all the iTunes stores everywhere as well as Amazon, eMusic, etc, so it’s available digitally worldwide right now. XELLE fans can keep up with all our news on www.XELLEmusic.com

Follow Xelle on Twitter @XELLEMusic