SCAPE Interview with the Spice Girls!

It was a very different world when the Spice Girls released their debut single, Wannabe, four years ago. They were the new girls on the block and the track's catchiness was surpassed only by the group's novelty value - they were, without doubt, the biggest girl band in the world. Plenty has changed since then, both within the band and in the fickle UK pop scene. As the girls went their own ways with their solo careers (in Geri's case, permanently), newer, fresher and - some would say - more talented girl bands eagerly took their place.

Now the group is back with their third album, Forever. A slicker, more sophisticated offering than ever before, it is aimed at a very different audience than its predecessors. But can they cut it now? Will people buy their new vibe? Will the girls regain their crowns as the collective queens of pop or be left on the shelf, past their use-by-date?

SCAPE caught up with Victoria 'Posh Spice' Beckham, Emma 'Baby Spice' Bunton and the two Mels, who answered all the tough questions. In a four-part interview, they address issues ranging from the flak they cop from critics, their solo careers and their separation and subsequent reunion.

What does the title Forever mean to each of you?
Emma: People are always saying we're going to split up, but we're going to be around for a long time.
Mel B: I think people forget as a group we're not only friends and Spice Girls, we have a business together. We're business partners and we advise and constantly support each other. So, there's all that involved into what we are to each other professionally and personally, and it kind of overlaps.
Emma: And also as friends, do you know what I mean? That is one of the main things, forever, because we're friends. Whether, you know, we don't do another album for a while, it doesn't mean we're not Spice Girls and together.

You had a break for a while. Why release the third Spice Girls album now?
Victoria: Well, we'd spent quite a lot of time doing our own thing and we said that we'd like to do another album, and I think that it was just wanting to. You know, two of us had had babies, everybody had done their own thing. I mean, Melanie had done a hell of a lot of travelling on her own and it was just nice to get back together and do this album.

Did you find recording together enjoyable, especially now there are just four of you?
Mel C: The main thing that I miss - I expect we're all the same - probably when we're doing our solo records, is the companionship. You have loads of people around you but it's not the same, do you know what I mean? 'Cos we are good mates, aren't we? And we do have a giggle. We have our ups and downs but we do have a giggle.
Victoria: Sometimes, you know, it can be sort of ... I mean, being on tour and being on your own, it can be quite lonely sometimes. So it's good to have, you know, all of your friends around you. I think it's good.

Which is your favourite song on the album, Emma?
Emma: Let Love Lead The Way. We said let's do a ballad where we're in love. We don't, you know, we're not going to tell him what to do, we're not going to say, 'I'm in love with you, but don't push it'. So we just did a pure ballad and, at the time, we all were thinking about the men in our lives.

Holler is a good example of a 'girl power' song. How did that get picked as your comeback single?
Mel B: We all had a different view as to what song we were going to release first and then we all decided Holler and then a few ... I mean, I know I got a bit cold feet about it. I'll never forget making a phone call to Emma saying, 'Emma, come on, what do you think? It's down to you, do we go with this song or this song?' And she went, 'Oh no! - no, it has to be Holler' and we're, all like, 'Yes, like, let's just go for it and if anything goes wrong we'll just blame it on Emma!'
Emma: On me! Because the thing is, we always make the right decision, so I think it's best that we stick to it and then it's our fault and nobody else's. Yours, too.

It's also a song about getting your own way. Do you like to get your own way?
Victoria: Absolutely, definitely. I'd love to say, 'No', but I always get my own way.
Mel C: I think, though, it's quite funny, 'cos a friend of mine, well, my boyfriend ...
Victoria: Ah, Melanie's boyfriend ...
Mel C: He always says to me, 'You're not getting your own way with me!' And I think it's quite true, you know, we do tend to get our own way a lot of the time so it's quite nice to have someone there who tells you how it is.
Victoria: Oh, I don't, I always like to get my own way. I never like to be told that's how it is. Nothing that a good old saucepan round the head wouldn't sort out, anyway!

Critics have been out to get the Spice Girls since the beginning. Is your new song Right Back At Ya a reaction to that?
Mel C: I think that's one of the things that we wanted to put across in one of the tracks. We just feel that since the first single, Wannabe, the song that broke us into the world of pop music, people have been saying, "Oh, it's the end of them, they're a one-hit wonder". We've had to deal with that all the way through our career. Here we are with our third album, coming right back at ya, so it's just about that, really.

Did writing the song help get some of that frustration out of your systems?
Emma: We wrote that with Elliot (Kennedy), who worked on our last two albums. He did Say You'll Be There and stuff like that. It's kind of just a track saying we're coming back. We're back, even though people will say we aren't.
Mel B: We don't really talk about it that much, but since we released Wannabe, people, especially the press, have been saying, "Oh, they'll never release a second single, they'll never release a first album and they'll never release a second album". It's been a constant thing. Even now, they say, "Oh, they'll break-up after this third album". It's like, come on, we've been doing it for five years, we're still here, we're still doing what we're doing and we've got the pleasure of being able to go off and do our own thing, as well as still being a rock solid band. I think people can't comprehend that.
Emma: Why can't they just enjoy what we do? It would be so nice if the press said, "We're looking forward to this next album", instead of saying, "After this album they're definitely breaking up".
Mel B: They always have to have an angle.
Emma: Why does everything have to be so negative? It should be positive.

Do you still represent Girl Power?
Mel B: It's part of our lives. It's not that we sit there and preach it. Girl power's still there. I mean, I'm a single mother, Emma's very, very independent, we all work together and we sort out our own stuff, you know. It's about being headstrong and believing in yourself, knowing what you want out of life and expecting the best for yourself.
Emma: And it's not that we hate men, we love them. I love men. It's just that we are stronger now and have our own beliefs. We don't follow everything that a man says.

To what extent do your songs still spread that message?
Victoria: There are some really strong songs on this album. That's something that we all still believe in so much. And, as we write and co-write all the songs, then that message still does get across but it's not quite so in your face.
Mel C: I think that whenever we write as a band, it will be very difficult not to have the influence of girl power in there because it's the way that we all live our lives. It's our inspiration to go along and be strong women. So, there's always going to be a flavour in there.

Do you feel like ambassadors for Britain?
Victoria: People do look up to us and have respect for us because, as Melanie says, you can't take away from us what we've achieved. I wouldn't say 'ambassadors', I mean, we're proud to be British ... sometimes.
Mel C: I think that's one sad thing about England. It's difficult for the British, especially the tabloid media, to be proud of their exports. And I think we're a great British export. We're like an Olympic athlete, do you know what I mean? We're proud of them, so why can't we be proud of someone who's bringing so much money into the country, you know? They just want to put us down. But, hey, they put Olympians down, don't they? They say disgusting things about everybody, so that's just the cynical British way.

How normal a life can you lead?
Mel B: I don't think you can get more normal than what we do. I mean, outside of pop performing and interviews and all that business.
Emma: Some people live their lives feeling like they can't even go down the road and get their milk and stuff like that. Whereas we just go out and - especially once you go out in your little village - people get to know you. They're, like, "Oh, it's her again". So it's perfect.
Mel B: I think that even though we take what we do seriously, we don't take ourselves that seriously. When we see each other on TV it's, like, "Ha ha ha". It's amazing and funny. What you see is what you get with all of us, apart from first thing in the morning when we look really ... (to Emma) actually, you look good in the morning.
Emma: Oh no, I don't.
Mel B: You do look good in the morning.
Emma: I get bags.
Mel B: I look frightening, but I do a good before and after.
Emma: We do makeovers!

Is your fan base still as strong as ever?
Emma: Our fans all over the world have always been by our sides, always been writing and asking "When's the next single?" Or just saying "We love you". You know, it's always so positive.
Mel B: And it's mad because we get letters that say "Emma, London", or "Melanie, London", and it gets to your house! It's funny. We still have a good flow of fan mail coming through the Spice office and the Spice website and stuff like that, and it's brilliant. It's from two-year-olds to 74-year-olds.
Emma: At the moment I'm getting a big rush of 16-year-old boys. It's quite nice that, yes.
Mel B: Send them over.
Emma: I was thinking I might do that. A couple of weeks ago I was getting real babies, children with mums writing in saying, "Oh, my little girl ...", and then you get a rush of 16-year-old boys, it's great.
Mel B: What were you wearing that week?
Emma: I don't know!

How do you feel about being regarded as icons by your fans?
Emma: I think it's really hard to say. We are lucky that we get fan mail and can write back to people. They say, "Oh, I really want to do this at school, how do I ... ?" It's lovely that we can write back and give them our opinions, but you never go, "Oh, I'm an icon today". You can't.
Mel B: I don't think any of us think like that. I think we're too busy just enjoying what we're doing. And, you know, every now and again you get a massive feedback and it's that overwhelming you just don't know what to do with it, apart from be immensely grateful. As well, I was quite shocked to hear the statistics of how many times people are still requesting Spice Girls videos.

Do you feel that people are intimidated by you?
Mel C: They go all nervous. I'm only a person! I mean, when I'm on my own, people are dead different - it's not as bad. But when we're together, people tend to be more intimidated. It freaks me out. I don't like it.