The Puppini Sisters have a new album on the way; The highlife will be released on March 11, and is the perfect blend of classics spanning the 30s to the 50s, jazzy reinventions of pop hits and self-penned material.
And how better to support the pending release than by taking their sounds to the live stage with a UK tour?
On March 16 the ladies – Marcella Puppini, Kate Mullins and Emma Smith, will be live in Milton Keynes, back on familiar territory with a date at The Stables. That date is all sold-out, but hey, you can still enjoy a little Puppini play courtesy of Total MK...
We asked Marcella to share her musical likes, loves and inspirations with us...together with a tale of pesky tobacco magnates!
The song that first awakened your musical senses
Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush. I was about 10 and I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.
Physical or digital - how do you take your music?
I was a very early convert to digital music, and I have loved every Last.fm, Spotify and Apple Music that’s come along.
But I also have an extensive collection of LP I regularly spin when I’m at home, and of course there’s nothing better than the experience of playing vinyl.
The first time you thought 'Music - this is the job for me'
I was 12, and I saw La Traviata on television. I was completely transfixed and decided there and then that I absolutely had to be an opera singer.
That all changed later on, when I discovered Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, and there has been no looking back.
Your best on stage memory...
There are too many to mention (playing the O2 Arena With Michael Bublé, or The Greek in LA with Cyndi Lauper, or L’Olympia in Paris), but perhaps my fondest one is also the oddest one: it was the early days of The Puppini Sisters, and we got invited to perform at my old boss Vivienne Westwood’s Christmas party.
We turned up with our PA equipment (in those days we did the singing AND the roadie-ing), only to find that there was no stage and the room was packed to the gills.
Not ones to be discouraged by that, we set up our “ stage” on the bar, which was just wide enough for our feet, and did the whole gig up there with my husband behind us ready to catch us if we fell off.
And the worst gig you've ever done
We once played at a private party for 30 tobacco magnates (all men), who thought that the performance was just a menu they could choose their favourite girl from for “afters”.
What made you take up singing, in particular
When I was five I fell in love with the piano, which I played throughout my childhood and my teens, but being Italian I grew up with singing.
Every family occasion, every holiday or party would always be filled with singing, and I find it to be one of the most joyous things in life.
Which one song by another artist do you wish you had written
Wuthering Heights
And one - by yourself - which holds special significance
Sticky Red Sugar, from my solo debut album Everything Is Beautiful.
It came from the pain of losing my father, but also from a desire to look forward to more beautiful memories.
If you could step into the shoes of another musician, living or dead, who would it be and what would you do?
I wish I could step into the immense talent, courage and constant reinvention of David Bowie.
What would I do? Express all of my angst, love, joy, grief and creativeness in a more beautiful way.
Are there any current musical influences that you might look to
I love quite a lot of current music, even Top 40 stuff. I think that there’s an incredible wealth of talent out there right now, and as I am getting more and more into the production side of things I love to hear what’s going on in the charts.
I have always been really into Hip Hop, and my current favourites are Kendrick Lamar, Tyler The Creator and Zebra Katz.
I also really, really love Labrinth and FKA Twigs.
And any genre of music that you simply can't stand?
I am not terribly keen on the musical theatre style of singing, although I often do like the songs.
Finally, plug The Stables show for us - what can we expect
We are absolutely delighted to come back to The Stables, as it’s one of our favourite UK venues.
We will be featuring quite a lot of material from our new album, which is possibly the swingy-est one we have ever made, so expect to be unable to sit still!
Also our vocal blend has been enriched by the arrival of our new redhead, Emma Smith, so prepare to luxuriate in some extra smooth vocal stylings and some serious swing from our band.
To try for returns only for The Stables show, visit www.stables.org
