03 April 2011

NME interview (2011)

The Ladytron singer doesn't care about her lack of UK hits — and she can rustle up a mean tart

- Ladytron have a Best Of album out
- Mira is keen to explain that Ladytron are NOT splitting up as a result
- One wonders if, in the event of Ladytron eventually splitting, Buckingham Palace will fly the flag at half mast? Probably not, to be honest

Hello, Mira. What have I interrupted you doing?
Cooking for tonight.

Is tonight a "big night"?
No, we just have some friends we owe a big meal to. I'm cooking an onion tart. It's kind of like a big fat pizza.

When you said "an onion tart" it sounded like "Narnian tart" and I was wondering what the CS Lewis angle was.
I don't live in a snow-covered work, unfortunately. And I just don't have a magical wardrobe.

Will you be serenading your guests tonight like they do on Come Dine With Me?
No, although my husband has been known to get out the acoustic guitar.

That certainly doesn't sound 'on message' for a Ladytron husband.
Yeah, he likes to try and jam. At least he only does it when he's drunk.

We are here to discuss Ladytron's glittering career. It has been going for 12 years. Interestingly, not a Top 40 hit in that time.
No. We've grazed close and we've had hits in other countries. It's never really been very England-centric. Luckily we arrived at the age of globalisation.

Do you not think, sometimes, "We've been making music for a long time, why won't somebody buy our bloody records"?
We kind of gave up on that early on and we've spent the last six years trying to persuade record companies to not think that way either.

If Ladytron were a condiment what would you be on the supermarket shelf?
Probably Tabasco sauce.

Is that a proper condiment though? Is it?
Well, you put it on oysters and things and it cheers them up.

Do Ladytron really cheer people up? Your music's good but you're not exactly a party band...
Sometimes people do dance and kind of bop along to our music.

But not in the same way people dance to, for example, "I Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas. People go apeshit for that. They don't do that for The Hits of Ladytron, do they?
A friend of mine said that for years he stacked shelves in a record shop and he said that "Destroy Everything You Touch" made his job easier. But you're right, we're not cheerful in the way Spanish or Japanese bands can be.

It's good to be wary of people who are too cheerful.
I guess we make people smile internally so they're not going around being a danger to themselves and an annoyance to other people.

What annoys you?
People not holding doors for you.

Does that upset you because you are A Lady or because you are a human being who simply deserves to be respected?
Because I'm a human being. I do have a lot of annoyances. People annoy me when they are not logical.

How's the onion tart?
It's been put on hold.

What goes into Ladytron's tart?
I don't want to be remembered as the Delia Smith of electronic music!

It'll good to be remembered for something.
I'd rather be the Heston Blumenthal but my tart isn't very experimental. Although the secret ingredient that goes into the base is cinnamon.

Steady on!
Yes. And anchovies. And olives.

I think on that bombshell it is time to end the interview.
OK. Thank you.

Source (magazine scan)