Perdita
01-12-2008, 08:29
Sean and Sarah Smith charmed the nation on last year's X Factor, making it all the way to the final with a series of, well, memorably ridiculous performances. Remember when they flew to the top of the Christmas tree during 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'? Now they're back with 'We R One', quite possibly the happiest single of the year, and the accurately-titled album Pop. Excited, we hooked up with the effervescent duo to find out more.
How did you feel when you first heard 'We R One'?
Sarah: "We were absolutely over the moon! The brief was actually High School Musical. Simon actually said to the songwriters, 'Here's 'Breakin' Free', it's what they sing best and we want to hear something like this'."
Sean: "I knew the moment I heard it it was going to be the single. When I heard the key change, I got shivers down my spine!"
Is it a good representation of the album?
Sarah: "Yes, but I'd say the album is a little bit more serious. There's some real bubblegum pop on there, but there's also stuff you wouldn't expect from Same Difference, songs that are more adult and belty."
Sean: "I'd say it's a cross between High School Musical, Steps and S Club 7. We wanted to bring back the stuff we grew up on really."
You worked with Pete Waterman on the album. What was that like?
Sarah: "He's a legend! We were absolutely petrified to meet him and when we got in there he gave us an hour-long lecture on how the best pop music isn't cheesy. We were like, 'Steps is cheesy,' and he was like, 'No. They. Are. Not.'"
Sean: "Then I said we'd come in on the train and I started moaning about how slow the journey was. He said, 'I came in on the train as well,' so I was like, 'Don't you have a car? You can easily afford one'. He was like, 'No, I bloody love trains!' We actually managed to embarrass ourselves twice within five minutes of meeting him."
Does it bother you that people see you as cheesy?
Sean: "It bothers Simon [Cowell], but it doesn't bother us. Simon says that whenever people call us cheesy, we should say, 'No, we just make good pop music'."
Sarah: "But the music we grew up on is stuff people would say is cheesy, so it's fine if people see us that way. Our music isn't what you'd call cool but we don't really care."
Sean: "During The X Factor our catchphrase was 'Embrace The Cheese!' and loads of people started coming to the show with 'Embrace The Cheese!' T-shirts on. It was just ridiculous."
Do you ever have an idea for a performance and think, 'Hang on, that's too ridiculous'?
Sean: "I have to say I had cheesier visions of our video than it actually is. We had this Louis Walsh-esque grumpy old man in the first cut of the video. He's standing there saying, 'What's happening here?' I want all these kids off my car lot!' Then he starts getting a bit more involved and by the end he's doing our dance routine and absolutely loving it."
Sarah: "It was in the first edit of the video, but then Simon said, 'It's too cheesy, get rid of it'. He wanted the video to be pure High School Musical-esque dance routine and I must admit he was right. As soon as it was taken out, the video looked a lot better."
What was it like going back to The X Factor recently?
Sean: "I think it's a lot cooler this year and the standard of singing is much higher. I think they're going to get some big stars out of it this year."
Sarah: "We love Alexandra. I don't think she gets enough credit and I think it's because everyone compares her to Leona. It's all about Diana at the moment, but Alexandra is so, so talented."
Did you meet the contestants?
Sarah: "Yeah we did. We gave everyone a rose and a card backstage just to say good luck, because Leona did that for us last year and we thought it was really sweet. Alexandra came over and just started screaming and hugging us, it was mental."
Sean: "Diana I have to say was a bit quiet and standoffish. She certainly didn't do anything bad, but she didn't show us the same love everyone else did."
Sarah: "Maybe she's a bit cool for school?"
Sean: "I doubt she would have liked us last year to be honest!"
How did you manage to win over Louis Walsh? He gave you a glowing report.
Sean: "I think Simon told him to! No, I actually think Louis was always a closet Same Difference fan. I think he secretly liked us last year and he just had to go against one of Simon's acts because otherwise it wouldn't be The X Factor. But he still came up to me on Saturday and said, 'Get a haircut Sean'."
Sarah: "He still can't resist winding us up, but that's just Louis!"
Same Difference's single, 'We R One', and album, Pop, are both out now.
How did you feel when you first heard 'We R One'?
Sarah: "We were absolutely over the moon! The brief was actually High School Musical. Simon actually said to the songwriters, 'Here's 'Breakin' Free', it's what they sing best and we want to hear something like this'."
Sean: "I knew the moment I heard it it was going to be the single. When I heard the key change, I got shivers down my spine!"
Is it a good representation of the album?
Sarah: "Yes, but I'd say the album is a little bit more serious. There's some real bubblegum pop on there, but there's also stuff you wouldn't expect from Same Difference, songs that are more adult and belty."
Sean: "I'd say it's a cross between High School Musical, Steps and S Club 7. We wanted to bring back the stuff we grew up on really."
You worked with Pete Waterman on the album. What was that like?
Sarah: "He's a legend! We were absolutely petrified to meet him and when we got in there he gave us an hour-long lecture on how the best pop music isn't cheesy. We were like, 'Steps is cheesy,' and he was like, 'No. They. Are. Not.'"
Sean: "Then I said we'd come in on the train and I started moaning about how slow the journey was. He said, 'I came in on the train as well,' so I was like, 'Don't you have a car? You can easily afford one'. He was like, 'No, I bloody love trains!' We actually managed to embarrass ourselves twice within five minutes of meeting him."
Does it bother you that people see you as cheesy?
Sean: "It bothers Simon [Cowell], but it doesn't bother us. Simon says that whenever people call us cheesy, we should say, 'No, we just make good pop music'."
Sarah: "But the music we grew up on is stuff people would say is cheesy, so it's fine if people see us that way. Our music isn't what you'd call cool but we don't really care."
Sean: "During The X Factor our catchphrase was 'Embrace The Cheese!' and loads of people started coming to the show with 'Embrace The Cheese!' T-shirts on. It was just ridiculous."
Do you ever have an idea for a performance and think, 'Hang on, that's too ridiculous'?
Sean: "I have to say I had cheesier visions of our video than it actually is. We had this Louis Walsh-esque grumpy old man in the first cut of the video. He's standing there saying, 'What's happening here?' I want all these kids off my car lot!' Then he starts getting a bit more involved and by the end he's doing our dance routine and absolutely loving it."
Sarah: "It was in the first edit of the video, but then Simon said, 'It's too cheesy, get rid of it'. He wanted the video to be pure High School Musical-esque dance routine and I must admit he was right. As soon as it was taken out, the video looked a lot better."
What was it like going back to The X Factor recently?
Sean: "I think it's a lot cooler this year and the standard of singing is much higher. I think they're going to get some big stars out of it this year."
Sarah: "We love Alexandra. I don't think she gets enough credit and I think it's because everyone compares her to Leona. It's all about Diana at the moment, but Alexandra is so, so talented."
Did you meet the contestants?
Sarah: "Yeah we did. We gave everyone a rose and a card backstage just to say good luck, because Leona did that for us last year and we thought it was really sweet. Alexandra came over and just started screaming and hugging us, it was mental."
Sean: "Diana I have to say was a bit quiet and standoffish. She certainly didn't do anything bad, but she didn't show us the same love everyone else did."
Sarah: "Maybe she's a bit cool for school?"
Sean: "I doubt she would have liked us last year to be honest!"
How did you manage to win over Louis Walsh? He gave you a glowing report.
Sean: "I think Simon told him to! No, I actually think Louis was always a closet Same Difference fan. I think he secretly liked us last year and he just had to go against one of Simon's acts because otherwise it wouldn't be The X Factor. But he still came up to me on Saturday and said, 'Get a haircut Sean'."
Sarah: "He still can't resist winding us up, but that's just Louis!"
Same Difference's single, 'We R One', and album, Pop, are both out now.