From the moment I stepped into the interview room with the girls I knew this would be a mental interview. They literally pounced on me for a hug, talk about the friendliest bunch of girls I’ve ever met.
From the moment we started chatting we just didn’t stop laughing and when I had an incident with a chair I knew I was going to love these girls. They are absolutely crazy, hyper and he happiest people I know. It’s obvious they loving all the recognition they are getting right now with the upcoming release of their new EP, Imperfections. This is how our interview went down.
First off explain who you are, Who are IV Rox?
Natalie: Oooooo, we are 4 girls who…. ehhhhh someone help me out!
Raquel: Just say who you are, Hi I’m Natalie lalalala (Group giggles)
Natalie: I’m Natalie, I’m 25
Dolly: I’m Dolly, I’m 19
Raquel: I’m Raquel, I’m 24 and i like to say I’m the eating machine of IC Rox, I eat everything.
Nadine, I’m Nadine, I’m 22 and I can agree with Raquel, my food always disappears. (Group giggles)
So where are you girls from?
Natalie: I’m from Essex
Dolly: I’m from North London, from the Haringey area.
Raquel: I was actually born in Portugal but I came here when I was little, I know live in South London.
Nadine: I moved here when I was 14 from the Netherlands, from Rotterdam.
Me: What made you move over here.
Nadine: It was for my Dad’s work, I was like ah I’m going to London, then was told no were going to Reading (Group Giggles).
How did you girls get together?
Raquel: Basically, I used to work with Davinche before, and he mentioned that he was looking to do a girl group project, I was like yay let me bring my friend. So Dolly and I knew each other from Church and then Davinche had brought in Nadine and Natalie so then we just all got on really well and we started writing together and what was great was not only did our personalities click, because usually its really hard with girls, especially if you don’t know them but we were just all a laugh. it was just crazy, jokes, screaming, we just got on really well.
Natalie: We don’t just do music together, we get on really well, we always go out for food together,
Raquel: Double Dates
Natalie: Yes! Big sleepovers, you know get the popcorn and all the food, Dolly always cooks.
Raquel: As Natalie was saying, when my family went away, they went to Portugal for holiday, I was like girls, coz I hate being by myself, as soon as my family left I was crying, so I was like girls come stay over. So they all came with a suitcase (group giggles) and bascially, Dolly made dinner every night, Natalie was the entertainment, Nadine was the messiest, and I was like the neat freak, thinking oh my house (freaking out actions), thinking who’s gonna do the washing up “Nadine”
Nadine: I’m not doing it!
Raquel: there was fake tan in my bath,
Natalie: Me and Nadine have fake tanning down to a T, We’re like you do my back (lots of giggles)
You’ve got your EP, Imperfections, coming out on the 2nd of February, You’ve got two big names on the EP with Ghetts and Stormzy, How did those collaborations come together?
Raquel: Stormzy was on Twitter bascially, erm we did the track with divinche and we were thinking who would be great on this? And Dolly was like we should get Stormzy on this, we were like yeah and she just got on it.
Dolly: Yeah I sent him a little message like hey bo bo I like you can you just come to the studio please.
Natalie: He was just so cool.
Raquel: He just strolled in like “Hey Girls”
Me: How long ago was this?
Dolly: Maybe in the summer, August last year.
Natalie: Yeah maybe it wouldn’t have been so easy now.
Dolly: He had already released his EP by that point.
Raquel: We were still in the studio still working on the song and we switched on the TV and there he was walking on the Stage to get his Mobo. We just all screamed.
What about Ghetts?
Raquel: Through divinche really as they have a great relationship and he was like i think I know who would be great on this, we were like who who who, he said you’ll see you’ll see, Then the next thing we just heard it and he came to the video shoot, we were like yayyyyyyy!!!!!!. He was great because he not only was there, and just to have his presence there was great but the fact he brought his input and he cared and said lets do this and lets do that, oh the girls did great there make sure you put that in to the camera guy. It was just so much fun.
Why is the EP called Imperfections?
Natalie: Well one of the songs is called imperfections and its based around the fact that young girls nowadays and older woman all feel like you have to have this perfect appearance and the media just show all these airbrushed photo’s of woman, airbrushed facially and in bodyshape, everyone feels they have to have these stick thin model looks or really curvaceous, Its just one of those things you shouldn’t have to feel you need to be one of those things, you don’t have to be perfect all the time. The media keep drilling in this idea you have to be perfect and it’s just not right. You shouldn’t be growing up thinking oh why do I have spots why do this, it’s natural, you grow up and you have all these different problems, I had braces for 6 years I had acne. It was disgusting.
Dolly: Same, I had freckles.
Natalie: I just wish there was a girl group in my teens that said you don’t have to be this or that, That I could have looked up to. So we want to bring that for a new generation of girls. It’s not just young woman, it’s older woman too who feel they have to look a certain way, you shouldn’t have to feel you have to be something that your not.
I’ve listened to the EP and I really love Under the Bridge!
Group: Awwwww Thank You.
Raquel: Do you that’s our favorite one (Gives me a high five)
I’m a little bit older and a bit stuck in my ways and wondered if I would like it, but it’s really basey, it also reminded me a bit like Destiny’s Child lyrically as well, It’s full of female empowerment. Have you been influenced by them?
Group: yeah yeah definitely
Dolly: We had all those groups as we were growing up like TLC with unpretty, Destiny’s Child Survivor so we just wanted to bring that to our generation of people around us. We want to give a positive message.
The title track is obviously Imperfections and has a line in it “I Need A Real Man” Whats your definition of a real man?
Raquel: Welllllll…….
Dolly: Ambitious
Natalie: They have to be funny
All: Yeah funny.
Natalie: They have to just stick by you, You know these men that are shady, the ones that say to your face your the only one for me and then behind your back to another woman Oh hey babe how you doing? GET RID OF THOSE MEN I HATE THOSE MEN. (group giggles)
Me: Oh believe they are just everywhere.
Natalie: A real man is just opposite to all those things.
Nadine: I think a real man is not scared to seem like a real man
All: yeah
Dolly: Especially little boys who want to be all manly and stuff and there normally the idiots.
Raquel: Boys nowadays just seem to like to follow their friends, follow the crowd and they end up following the path the friends do just because it’s popular and it’s cool. A real man knows what he wants to do, knows who he is and he doesn’t care what the world or whatever friends are saying.
You’ve got some major backing from the likes of a few music tastemakers such as DJ Target, Mistajam and Manny Norte, How did that feel when you heard they were backing you?
Dolly: It’s just amazing, It was such a lovely welcome into the industry, Everyone has just welcomed us in with open arms. Its so refreshing to see usually you would think that no one would really care until you blow but they’ve been so supportive. Even with other stars, we haven’t produced anything that is concrete till the EP but still everyone has just welcomed us.
Natalie: So when we get a tweet from anyone like that we are just like
All: AHHHHHHHHHHH thank you so much.
Natalie: We also got played last night (Wednesday 28th of Feb) on Radio 1xtra and they tweet us saying they played our song. It’s just so sweet that they make an effort to show support to us.
What are your plans for this year?
Raquel: We have a lot of shows coming up, I Luv Live, The Come Up, Urban Development, and we are going to be going on a radio tour which we are really excited about that. We are taking it south England but also Wales. We’ll be shooting a new video for Badder Than A Mother, So we are just trying to follow it with lots of things to keep the momentum going.
Natalie was already saying we have started writing for EP 2 as well all with divinche.
The girls EP, Imperfections is released on the 2nd Of February, It’s a banging EP full of feel good, vibes and encouragement female empowerment, We love it and couldn’t recommend it highly enough.