Exclusive Journey South Interview

17-10-2007 14:17

It's hard to believe it's two years since Journey South wowed TV audiences on the X Factor but now as twelve new hopefuls begin the battle to become Britain's newest pop star Carl and Andy are proving they were more than just a one hit wonder as they prepare to release their second album.

In 2005 the Pemberton brothers were whisked away from their quiet lives in Middlesbrough to perform live on the X Factor stage every Saturday night. Journey South were narrowly beat in the show's final by Shayne Ward but went on to have a Number One double platinum selling album and a sell out tour.

Now two years older and wiser Carl and Andy speak to Female First about their excitement about releasing their second album, missing home and what they really think about X Factor.

Do you regret being on X Factor?
Carl: The X Factor is a really brilliant thing for us. We had a really successful album last year and off the back of that we had a sell out tour. It was also a fantastic experience that got us in the public eye and I don't regret one single thing about it.
Andy: We've gained a lot of confidence when we're on stage and a lot of faith in the British public because we got a lot of votes and it was really quite humbling. We were away from home for a while as well so we learnt how much we love being at home in Middlesbrough. We just got a lot of experience from it and learnt a lot really.
C: It gets you on prime time TV in front of like 10 million people on a Saturday night and they're your record buying public so yeah it's definitely a good thing.

What do you think about the audition age being lowered to 14?
C: We've just been talking about this actually. It could be a good thing in one respect because finding more talent that might not try in the next couple of years.. You know with them being school leaving age and getting a job or whatever. But the other thing is that it maybes might be harder for kids so young. Lack of experience might mean they take the criticism a lot harder.
A:I think it's fair really. Our Carl started playing the guitar when he was 10 so he was playing in pubs when he was 14. As long as you can handle it it's OK. You get some kids now who will be well accomplished by that age but you will also get some kids who are really nervous and won't be able to handle it. As long as the parents and the kids are happy with it there's no problem

Do you think the fact that stars such as Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan starting at such a young age is the reason why they have gone off the rails as they've got older?
A: I think it's down to the character of the person. Some people are more susceptible to addictions where some people aren't. Some people are more susceptible to believing their own hype and some people aren't. Some people are more grounded. Charlotte Church started when she was 11 and she's still really grounded so it might just be the family around her and the character of the person. Christina Aguleria is another one who started around the same age as Britney and she's fairly normal so far.

What have you been up to for the past 2 years>
Carl: We've been over in Stockholm writing with some really great people and some some people in London too. We've just recently been recording the album over in Sweden too and working with some really great producers so we've been really busy- we haven't just been sitting on our butts.

So tell us about the album?
Andy: We're just over the moon. We're really really pleased with the outcome and just dead excited. It's all our own material and we've spent the last year writing it and we ended up spoilt for choice of what to put on it. We'd wrote over 25 songs in the last year and a half. We've picked the best ones and we're over the moon. We couldn't of gotten any better than what we've got on it now.
C: It's all our own songs. We've been writing it for the past 2 years and it's about all our experiences since we went on the XFactor. It's a really hard felt album and we're really proud to call it our own.
A: I would say the sound is like an English version of Bon Jovi. There's just some great, really strong anthemic ballads. Real rock ballads with also some straight rocky songs as well. It's just a great mix from start to finish.

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