Fergie: ‘You do tend to get sick of listening to yourself every night’

Fergie Ferg! How are you?

Hey, what’s up? Things are great, things are (puts on an English accent) lovely. You know what, I haven’t said that word in so long – your voice just sounded lovely.

Thank you! How’s your day been so far?

Good, I’m just chilling. It’s 9:25am.

Have you had your breakfast?

My breakfast is a green smoothie every day and I’m sipping it right now. It’s kale, spinach and romaine. What saves it is there’s half a banana, half an apple and half a pear in it. (1)

You were a spelling bee champion as a kid, is that right?

(Laughs) That rumour’s gotten very out of proportion. I won a class spelling bee once.

Ah I see. Can you spell “quandary” for me please.

Quandary? OK, Q U A N D R Y.

Incorrect. Now try “committee”.

I didn’t know I was going to be doing this. OK. C O M M I T T E E.

Correct! Congratulations! Your new single, LA Love (La La), mentions over 40 countries and cities and yet there’s no mention of Antigua and Barbuda, Uzbekistan or Burkina Faso. An oversight surely?

(Laughs) Erm. I don’t know.

Could there be a remix on the horizon?

Possibly. I tried to include as many places as I could. But a lot of the places I mention were nostalgic for me and I was just thinking of the places I’ve been on tour and hung out. I don’t think Kazakstan made it either, but we have performed there.

In the video, you ride around on a big bus. When was the last time you used public transport?

Well, that would be flying back to North Dakota for Thanksgiving.

I don’t think a plane counts as public transport.

Oh it doesn’t? Why? It’s not public transport?

Well not everyone gets to ride around in a private jet. Public transport is usually a bus or a train.

You know what I do use, though? Uber. I’m a big Uber lover. Sometime the drivers are surprised when I get in the car. I have a different name on the account, obviously.

It’s been nine long years since your last solo album, The Dutchess. What on earth have you been doing?

Well, The Dutchess was a two-year run, with touring and all of that and then I recorded another two Black Eyed Peas albums, with Boom Boom Pow, I Gotta Feeling, Imma Be, Rock That Body, Meet Me Halfway, and Time of Our Lives (2). Then I just said: “Guys we’ve got to take a break”. I got pregnant, started renovating our house, which was a genius move, had to move out of the house while pregnant, moved into a rental property, had the baby, moved back into the house – which still isn’t done by the way – and then started figuring out how to be a mum. With my workout time, my husband time, my mummy time and getting back in the studio, there’s been a lot. But all the while I’ve been writing and every time I get an idea, I record it and write it down, so now I’m finally getting to finish all of these ideas.

Do you think this interview will spark off a song? Are you getting any ideas from this at all?

Yeah, maybe I’ll call it Lovely, like your voice. (Sings) “I met a guy, his voice was lovely”.

Did our very own Fergie, aka Sarah Ferguson, really call you up after she saw the title of your album?

It wasn’t right afterwards, but some time had gone by and she wanted to do something for her charity and unify the Fergies. She wanted me to perform, so she gave me a call. It was quite funny to be on the phone with the actual Sarah Ferguson, who I had based my album title on.

You recently said that your husband walked in on you during a bikini wax and that he was curious about it. What did he want to know exactly?

I don’t know, you’ll have to ask him (laughs). You’ll have to ask whichever one of his brains was thinking at that time. He didn’t leave, he sort of lingered.

You’ve been quite open in the past about your battles with drug abuse (3). Do you think addictive people find other outlets for that part of their personality?

Absolutely. You have to. It’s imperative that you find something that’s going to fulfil you in that way, and for me it was making music and getting my thoughts out. Absolutely.

Aren’t you heavily into hypnotherapy now?

Yep. It works. My girl is a trained therapist – it’s not just some flighty person who hypnotises people. It’s normal therapy and at the end, you go into a more relaxed state where she can speak to my subconscious. I just get very relaxed and it’s almost a dream state, so you’re highly suggestible at that point. It’s weird, I will hear her voice sometimes later on. I’ve done hypnosis for eating and I’ll be lying there, she’ll be putting her positive suggestions in and later on, I’ll go to the refrigerator and I’ll hear her voice telling me to be sensible.

You used to be in a girl band called Wild Orchid who supported Cher on tour. Did you ever get to hang out with her?

A very tiny bit. Not a lot. I used to pass her wigs in the hallway and I’d fantasise about taking one home, specifically the big red one with the curls. I told her this later in Paris at some fashion show. She’s such a great woman and she has the quickest wit ever.

I found a video from 2008 in which you do four one-handed front flips while singing Heart’s Barracuda. Amazing. But also, why?

During the song Shut Up on the Black Eyed Peas tour, we’d have fun with it and Will and I would do all these weird vocal battles. I hit a really high note so he did a breakdancing move, so I just spontaneously pulled that move out of my gymnastics training. I remembered I could do it one-handed, so I put the mic in the other hand and there it started. Once I did that, the audience wanted to see it every night, so I just kept on doing it.

The Black Eyed Peas were No 1 in America for exactly half of 2009 with Boom Boom Pow and then I Gotta Feeling (4). Were even you a bit sick of the Black Eyed Peas at that point?

When you perform songs every night, you do tend to get sick of listening to yourself [laughs]. But at the same time, what takes you out of that is the audience, because you get out of your own psyche and into their vibe.

You’ve launched four fragrances , but what’s your favourite other celebrity scent?

I’ve not bought any other fragrances since I started doing my own (laughs). You just bulk buy. I have another one coming out in March.

Lady Gaga once said she’d like one that smelled of blood and semen. What would be your dream smell?

When I started doing fragrances, I wanted something rock’n’roll, so we added black leather into it. That’s a scent I like a lot.

Blood and semen is quite rock’n’roll.

(Laughs) Yeah, well, exactly.

I’m not sure I’d want to spray that on my body to be honest.

Right.

Lee Ryan from UK boy band Blue appears at the end of London Bridge. How on earth did that happen?

Yes! We used to see them on tour all the time. This was a while ago – I don’t remember how it happened. He was probably in town so we told him to come to the video shoot.

No, he’s on the song, at the very end, doing some chat.

No!

Yes he is, I had it confirmed. (5)

What are you talking about?

On the album version, at the end, he’s does a talky bit in a terrible cockney accent.

Oh the skit, yes! That’s right! See I told you, I don’t listen to my own songs that often. Oh my gosh, that was funny. I get so bored with albums that don’t have that sort of stuff on it. I grew up listening to Dre and Snoop and they’d always have phone calls and little fun skits that make it just not so boring.

Which shoe would you recommend from your Fergie Footwear range for a date at a high-class restaurant?

I would choose the limited-edition holiday shoe. It’s called the Reagan and it’s a red suede strappy heel with some gold roping through it and metallic embellishment. All of the proceeds go to Dress For Success, a charity that helps disadvantaged women get jobs and have better lives. So, not only is it beautifully sexy on the leg, but it’s also perfect for Valentine’s Day, comfortable and it helps disadvantaged women.

How often do people ask you about that time you wet yourself on stage?

Oh gosh, not another one! BORING!

Oh dear. Well it was lovely to chat to you.

Lovely! Exactly. I knew you’d say that word!

Footnotes

(1) She calls it “green goo”, apparently.

(2) It’s actually called The Time (Dirty Bit), but we’ll let her off seeing as it’s basically a cover of (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life with a donk on it.

(3) She was addicted to crystal meth during her time in girl band Wild Orchid.

(4) Boom Boom Pow was No 1 for 12 weeks, followed by I Gotta Feeling for 14 weeks. Blimey.

(5) Honestly, someone from a PR company texted him to check.