The pop star caught up with NME backstage at Reading Festival 2023 to discuss her debut album and recent cameo in Heartstopper Season Two
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MusicTranscript
00:00 (crowd cheering)
00:02 - Hi, I'm Sophie from NME,
00:07 and I'm joined by the wonderful baby queen
00:09 at Randon Festival, Bella, how are we?
00:11 - I'm good, how are you?
00:13 - I'm good, thank you.
00:14 So you're fresh off stage,
00:15 winding hands. - Fresh off stage.
00:16 - How are we feeling?
00:17 - That was like, I've been through a lot.
00:23 I walked straight off the stage,
00:25 went to the BBC Radio 1 photo booth,
00:28 so I just feel like I've been through a tsunami.
00:31 - It's all happening. - And I've just landed
00:32 right here on this couch with you.
00:36 - Where you're meant to be.
00:37 - This is where I belong right now, for real.
00:38 - Exactly, and I'm loving these friendship bracelets,
00:40 are they from fans?
00:42 - These are from fans.
00:44 People always bring a bracelet to a show,
00:48 and then when I go out to the front, I collect them.
00:51 - That's so cute.
00:53 - But then they get recycled, and I lose them.
00:57 - Sustainable.
00:58 - But I love them, for how long they're on my arm,
01:01 I love them.
01:02 - Yeah, and what's the maddest gift
01:04 you've ever had from a fan?
01:06 I see on socials, they always bring in flowers
01:08 and fun things to shows,
01:10 but have you ever had something quite weird?
01:12 - The weirdest gift?
01:14 Well, there was a period of time
01:16 where I would only get, from fans,
01:18 I'd only get Jodie Comer-themed merch.
01:20 - Of course.
01:21 - And it would be a Jodie Comer pillow.
01:27 For a while, I was like, wow, am I insane?
01:30 My whole flat was just filled with Jodie Comer memorabilia.
01:34 But that was a weird time of my life.
01:37 They've stopped, they've chilled out a little bit.
01:39 - Just a little bit.
01:40 - They've chilled out a bit, yeah.
01:42 - And speaking of your fan base,
01:43 in recent years, obviously, you've adopted
01:45 a whole new wave of fans through the friendship
01:48 that you have with the Heartstopper cast
01:49 and featuring in that.
01:50 What has that new relationship and fan base meant to you?
01:54 - It's been amazing.
01:55 It's something that I had no idea
01:59 when I stepped into Heartstopper
02:01 what it would ultimately become
02:04 and just how many fans there were.
02:07 So it was a real surprise and rollercoaster.
02:11 They're really amazing, accepting people.
02:15 So I kind of feel like it's just been another step
02:18 towards me being able to accept myself more.
02:23 It's a really good group of people
02:25 to surround yourself with.
02:27 - And they've played a huge part
02:28 in your forthcoming debut album as well.
02:30 I mean, Alice Oseman, right?
02:31 She designed an alternative cover to your album.
02:34 What was that like for you
02:35 and sort of the relationship that you've built
02:37 with the team there?
02:38 - It's just been this very sort of natural thing
02:43 where they found my music, they found Internet Religion.
02:47 - The classic.
02:49 - Didn't we all?
02:52 - That's it for me.
02:53 I wrote it.
02:54 Yeah, they found Patrick, the producer of the show,
02:59 found Internet Religion.
03:01 And they just felt like Baby Queen,
03:04 the sound of Baby Queen,
03:05 became sort of synonymous with the show in a way.
03:10 And since then, it's just been this really natural
03:14 relationship that it just makes sense.
03:19 If we're doing an illustrated version of my album,
03:22 like who else is gonna do it, you know?
03:23 So it's been amazing.
03:24 I'm very lucky.
03:26 - Obviously, we're at Redding today,
03:28 the 1975, one of your favorite bands ever,
03:30 headlining tonight. - Hell yeah.
03:31 - And they'll be playing their debut album in full.
03:33 What does that album mean to you
03:35 and how has it inspired you as an artist?
03:37 - I was 17 years old and I was in South Africa
03:42 and this was like the first time I started
03:44 to go off the rails in a way.
03:47 It was the first time I ever stepped into,
03:51 I don't know, being a teenager.
03:58 It was this really late sort of progression for me.
04:01 And I discovered that album
04:03 and that was just in my ears permanently.
04:06 And I had this dream of moving to London
04:08 and being a musician and that song,
04:11 ♪ If you wanna find love ♪
04:12 ♪ Then you know where the city is ♪
04:14 And I was like, I'm going to the city, you know?
04:16 And I felt like I was coming from this really small place
04:20 and that album represented the beacon
04:24 of what London was to me.
04:26 And I feel like it was,
04:28 I don't know if I would have made the move without,
04:32 you know, I mean, I can't imagine it any differently.
04:34 It was a really, really influential album.
04:39 - That's beautiful.
04:40 Are there any other tracks on there
04:41 that you still go back to quite often,
04:43 still mean a lot to you?
04:46 - So many.
04:47 I mean, like, there's the bangers,
04:50 there's girls and chocolate, you know what I mean?
04:54 - Yeah, yeah.
04:55 - I mean, everything.
04:55 I really like "Money."
04:57 ♪ Has she got enough money to spend ♪
05:00 ♪ Do you really mean it ♪
05:03 And I really like,
05:04 ♪ Oh, she way out, never seen you ♪
05:08 ♪ Don't you move, don't you like she way out ♪
05:11 And, and,
05:13 ♪ We're changing pressure ♪
05:15 ♪ I'm never gonna lie to you ♪
05:17 - You could sing it instead of Matti Healy on stage tonight.
05:20 - Seriously, if there was a problem with Matti,
05:23 and he couldn't get on the stage tonight,
05:26 I could do it.
05:28 I could do the dance moves.
05:30 I know what he does, bro.
05:32 I know how he moves.
05:33 Seriously, I could do it.
05:34 It's just, I've just listened to those albums a lot.
05:37 A lot.
05:38 So, Matti, you know what I mean?
05:42 If you ever need someone to step in.
05:46 - You're right here.
05:48 Just to wrap things up,
05:51 obviously, like you said,
05:52 you're sharing the stage with 1975 today,
05:54 but this summer also marks two years
05:55 since you started performing live yourself.
05:58 How far do you think you've come as a performer,
06:00 and how proud do you feel of that?
06:02 - It's so weird, because I was thinking about this today,
06:04 and I was thinking back to the first festival show
06:07 I ever played, and my manager took a video of me,
06:11 and she was like, "How are you feeling?"
06:13 And I was like, "I feel like I wanna die.
06:15 "This is the worst feeling in the world.
06:17 "I hate this.
06:18 "I don't wanna go on the stage."
06:19 And to get to a place where you're playing the main stage
06:23 at this festival, that's just like,
06:25 it's a really big deal for me.
06:27 And to be on that stage and have a sense of calm,
06:31 and of like, I know what I'm doing,
06:33 'cause I've done it so many times,
06:35 it was really special, and it was, yeah,
06:40 it was an amazing, I think I probably will never forget
06:45 that moment, you know?
06:47 So, it was dope.
06:48 - Well, congratulations.
06:49 You smashed it. - Thank you.
06:50 Thank you, I appreciate it.
06:52 - And enjoy the rest of your Reading Festival.
06:53 - You too.
06:54 - Thank you. - Let's go wasted.
06:55 (laughing)
06:57 [BLANK_AUDIO]