My Music: Siobhan Fahey

Fahey counts David Bowie and New Order among her influences

Siobhan Fahey was one third of pop group Bananarama when they scored 14 UK hits including Cruel Summer and Venus.

She left in 1988 to form Shakespear's Sister, notching up a further six hits including You're History and the number one Stay.

Now a respected electro DJ, Fahey is preparing to release her first solo album.

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Describe your music in three words.
Glam electro rock 'n' roll.

Which artists have influenced you?
They are varied and diverse, from New Order to Marc Bolan and T Rex, Bowie and Giorgio Moroder. You can hear them all on my album - I steal from the best.

How do your new songs differ from the tracks you wrote as Shakespear's Sister?
I have tried to record in a higher key this time, to explore a bigger vocal range. On several tracks I've moved away from the traditional verse-chorus-bridge song format, which can be a bit too rigid. I have to be able to fly free!

When did you write your first song?
It was around 1982, when we had our first hit with Fun Boy Three (It Ain't What You Do It's the Way That You Do It). All of a sudden we were pop stars making an album.

What is your favourite line from one of your songs?
"And all the pretty people that I used to see have died or moved away, or they're in recovery; and all the buildings where the faithless used to play have crumbled into clay and I don't know what to say." (From Shakespear's Sister's I Can Drive.)

Fahey with Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward (right) in Bananarama

Which song do you wish you had written?
So very many. Drive In Saturday by David Bowie, If You Go Away by Jacques Brel or any of the songs performed by Edith Piaf.

What are your three favourite albums of all time?
That's tough - it's like trying to choose which of your children you would give to the Nazis if they broke down your door. I'll go for Roxy Music's fifth album, Siren, Blue by Joni Mitchell and any of Bowie's first five albums.

What's the best record you have bought on impulse?
It has to be film-maker Gus Van Sant's self-titled album. He was influenced by country rock musicians such as Gram Parsons.

Which song from the past 12 months is most likely to gain classic status?
I listen to a lot of stuff for my record label [SF Records] and when I'm DJing but I suppose my favourite recent song is NY Excuse by Soulwax. It's more than a year old, but Goldfrapp's Train is also a classic.

If you organised a music festival, who would you have as headline and support acts?
Me to headline, with support from Whitey, LCD Soundsystem and Soulwax.

If you had to be part of any other existing band, which would you choose?
I always wish I was in Primal Scream but it could not be an option. It would be fantastic to be in a great rock 'n' roll band.

Marcella Detroit sang and co-wrote with Fahey in Shakespear's Sister

Are there any songs you can't listen to because they remind you of something you would rather forget?
Stay. Having a number one single does not make you happy.

What has been your biggest musical mistake?
Probably making a third Bananarama album with producers Tony Swain and Steve Jolley (1986's True Confessions). We worked exclusively with Stock Aitken Waterman on our next album.

What has surprised you most about the music industry since becoming involved in it?
That people who work for record companies are not really interested in music.

In his autobiography producer Mike Stock criticised your contribution to Bananarama's songs. Did you feel vindicated by the subsequent success of Shakespear's Sister?
We were writing our own songs before Bananarama went to Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW). We loved the amazing anarchic mental sound of their Dead Or Alive song, You Spin Me 'Round, and we suggested covering Venus in the same style. It became SAW's blueprint - Bananarama helped that sound to evolve. Nevertheless SAW were not respectful of us as writers and curtailed our involvement, which was frustrating.

Do you face pressure to reunite with Shakespear's Sister partner Marcella Detroit?
No. I faced that sort of pressure a long time ago, and it did not work on me. There is no point staying in a situation where you are not happy.

Do you have any plans to reunite with Bananarama?
Sara and Keren are my exes, a bond like that will always be there. We have reunited in the past but it has always been an excuse to have some fun and a laugh, it's never done for our careers.

What is your biggest musical ambition?
To write and record a track that is up there with my peers, my influences and heroes. That has always been my aim.

Siobhan Fahey plays central London's Infinity Club on 9 November. The Best of Shakespear's Sister is released on the Warner label on 22 November.