One name has topped the tips for 2011 issued by practically every media outlet in the land, from

MTV to the BBC and even, yes, Time Out. To be honest, none of us was really sticking our neck out

there. Jessie J has already written one international chart smash (Miley Cyrus‘s ‗Party in the USA‘,

intended as ironic anthem for herself), has like a zillion YouTube hits for her many live clips and,

crucially, she can sing her arse off, and probably yours too. Jessie is also the first artist to benefit

from a new label strategy, whereby singles are released to radio and Joe/Joetta Public at the

same time, encouraging word of mouth marketing and hopefully, touch wood with crossed

fingers, eliminating the scourge of piracy forever (ha! in your face, Somalia!).

In the meantime, Jessie is busying herself with a gig at Koko as part of MTV‘ Brand New for 2011

series, almost certainly the last time you‘ll catch her in such relatively intimate surroundings.

So, you‘ve been voted the one most likely to succeed by everyone in the world – how does that

feel?

‗I‘m torn straight down the middle. Half of me‘s like, ―Oh my God, pressure.com‖, and the other

half of me‘s like, ―I can do this – this is why I‘ve been working my arse off for seven years, so I can

be like, Come on, let‘s get messy and let‘s do it.‖ But I didn‘t expect it to be so crazy, to be

honest with you. I never expected to win awards or be the next one after, like Amy, Adele, Ellie.

It‘s very overwhelming.‘

It must be strange making the jump from singer-songwriter to pop star…

‗Totally, you don‘t go to pop star school to learn how to be a pop star, or how to be papped, or

what to do when a fan attacks you in Westfield, you just have to get on with it. And that‘s the

kind of thing people think, you know, that if you sign up to be a singer-songwriter you know how

to deal with people setting up hate websites, or people being obsessed with you and crying

when you touch them, but you don‘t, and you just have to deal with. And that‘s big – it‘s like, I‘m

22 and I‘m from Essex, this is really odd! But I‘m loving it, now I get to wear Vivienne Westwood

clothes for a day and then give ‘em back!‘

You‘ve had some pretty scary health problems. Did they give your songwriting a different

perspective?

‗Oh definitely. I think what‘s happened to me with my health in the past – four years ago I had a

minor stroke – it made me realise that you can‘t guarantee life every day. However old you are,

however much you love life, however happy you are, how healthy you are, it doesn‘t matter.

Nothing‘s guaranteed. And I think it made me want to take that risk to expose myself as me and

not as a version of myself. I don‘t become Jessie J. I might put a nicer pair of heels on and a

cooler outfit, but I‘m still that naughty girl who likes a slice of cheesecake on my day off.‘

You‘re also quite clean living for a 22-year-old pop star…

‗Music is my drug and the only drug I‘ll ever want. The clean living thing is a bit drastic – I won‘t

say I‘ll never have a glass of Champagne to say well done for the Brit award or whatever. I‘m not

someone who‘s anti, I just can‘t depend on it. Alcohol and drugs don‘t give me the confidence

to be who I am and that‘s why I really wanna embrace being a role model, I want to show young

people that you can be who you are with purity, you don‘t have to kind of infect it with a double

shot of G&T or a spliff. It‘s just part of the role I have to play now, Which I‘ve always played, to be

honest – ask my girlfriends, they‘ll all tell you I‘ll have half a shandy and I‘m done!‘

Yeah, you seem hyper enough without any assistance…

‗Can you imagine me with alcohol? Not a good look, is it? A Lucozade is enough for me. I‘m

irritating enough without it all.‘

You‘ve given your fans a chance to see your wild side through your internet show, ‗Dare Jessie

J‘… ‗

―Dare Jessie J‖ was always my little plan to be

able to do stuff a 22-yearold would do while

I‘m living my dayto- day life. Sometimes I have

to remind myself: chill out, have a Nando‘s,

put your feet up and watch comedy. And

―Dare Jessie J‖ was just a chance for me to

act like a kid in this crazy whirlwind of my life

right now. I am a dork in disguise, I love doing

stupid stuff. Humour is a big part of my life –my

dad‘s a social worker, and he‘s always said

that laughter is the best therapy. So humour‘s

a massive part of me and ―Dare Jessie J‖ is a

good way for people to get to know me.‘

You got your first big break when Chris Brown‘s

manager spotted you singing on YouTube

and booked you to support him for six dates –

how important is it for you to be known for

your vocal abilities?

‗For me, there shouldn‘t be anyone who can‘t

do it live. Ever since I was a kid, I was taught

that you have to be good at what you do. If

you‘re a masseuse, you should know what to

do to make someone‘s back feel better. If

you‘re a singer you should be able to sing live.

In the last four or five years I‘ve been working

on my vocal, because if it‘s not amazing,

people will say it‘s crap. Because that‘s my

job. I should be good at what I do. But I love

singing live. Nothing beats the feeling of going

out on stage and going, ―I can really sing.‖‘

The name Mayday Parade is a peculiar, what‘s story behind the name?

Well you know I always wished that I had a better answer for this question, it‘s one of those

questions that we do get asked and I always wish that I could say something really interesting

about it but really it‘s just that we needed a name, obviously. I think Jake, our drummer, liked the

word mayday and Alex thought Mayday Parade and we thought ‗yeah, that works‘ and so that

kind of is the story. We recorded our first two songs, we wrote Three Cheers For Five Years and

When I Get Home Your So Dead, and we didn‘t have a name yet. We needed one to put the

songs on myspace and get the ball rolling and as a last minute thing to just pick a name and Alex

said Mayday Parade and that was it done, and we put it up.

That is unique in this day and age in it‘s own way because so many bands take so much time to

concentrate on a name.

Yeah, I do appreciate it when a band name has a lot of meaning to it, that‘s cool to me but

you‘ve got bands like The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I don‘t know how they got their band name

but the band name doesn‘t really matter that much to me.

Your last album was released in 2009, how do you feel it‘s has done looking back on it a year

later?

I think it‘s done really well, it‘s a tough thing doing a sophomore album. A sophomore album is a

big deal for any band because there is a lot more pressure there whereas your first album,

obviously it‘s a big deal still but nobody knows who you are before that so you don‘t have a bar

that‘s set that you have to meet this expectation. With the second album that is the case, that is

exactly the case. So we were kind of nervous going in to it but you can‘t worry too much about it,

we just did the best that we could and wrote the best songs that we could. We are all very proud

of it, it‘s done really well and the response over here and in the U.S has been great. Obviously

there are some people that like the old stuff better but I think on a whole it‘s been ultimately

good.

Do you feel like you reached that bar that you set with the first album and pushed past it?

I think so, personally yes, I love all the stuff that we have done in the past. I love the E.P and I love

A Lesson In Romantics but I really feel like the songs are the best on Anywhere But Here.

Do you feel the band has altered at all between the two albums?

Yes, Mostly I would say because we don‘t have a sixth member anymore. We don‘t do as much

of the back and forth singing thing which was kind of a big thing for us. Honestly I‘m not even sure

whether or not I even like that, I do in a way kind of like it and I do kind of miss the double vocals

and the back and fourth singing style. We might try to touch on that and do a little bit more of

that in the future but I don‘t really know for sure yet. Other than that I would say it‘s still the same

band with the same type of songs and the same feelings and emotions.

Referring back to the band not having it‘s sixth member anymore (Jason Lancaster), do you feel

that it had a negative impact with the fans?

Yeah definitely, I mean Jason was a big part of the band and that‘s kind of what happens when

you lose a member, it definitely impacts the fans. There is nothing you can really do about it

though and all you can do is keep on moving on. It just wasn‘t meant to be with us and Jason

and it didn‘t really work the way it was. We have been a band now without him for a while longer

than we were a band with him so this is who we are.

Sorry for bringing it up (in a joking tone)

Ha ha I understand where your coming from.

Going back to what is said on the net, a lot of forums hold hope that Jason will return to Mayday

Parade , what is your view on that?

I would say that‘s never going to happen. One thing I will say, not to give anyone false hope, is

that I never thought I would see the day that John Nolan got back together with Taking Back

Sunday and apparently that just happened. It could just be rumours but I have heard from

several people that Taking Back Sunday has rejoined with their very original lineup of John Nolan

and to me that is something like ―Wow‖, I never would of expected that or seen that coming. So I

guess you never know and I shouldn‘t say that it‘s definitely impossible but it‘s extremely

improbable and I don‘t think that it will happen. We have however actually talked about touring

together with Go Radio because we are friends with those guys now and I think they are a really

good band and really talented.

After giving us one of the best club tracks - and catchphrases - of last year, we'll admit we were a

bit surprised when we heard Far East Movement's follow-up to their US chart-topper 'Like A G6' - a

Ryan Tedder-assisted toe-tapper called 'Rocketeer'. Given that it also features appearances from

Snoop Dogg, Roger Sanchez and Frankmusik, what exactly can we expect from the LA four-

piece's new album, Free Wired? We met up with Kev Nish, Prohgress, J-Splif and DJ Virman to find

out.

Are you pleased with the response to 'Rocketeer'?

Kev Nish: "We definitely went in a different direction with this one. We wanted to show people

that there's more to us than dance music, and we felt this single did that. It's doing well over here

and it went top ten in the US too, which was amazing! We were signed as a dance group so we

feel lucky that we've had support with this song too."

How did the Ryan Tedder collaboration come about?

Kev Nish: "We were actually listening to 'Apologise' on the way to the studio one day - and

decided we wanted that kind of sound on one of our songs! At the time we were working on

'Rocketeer', which is all about following your dreams, so the head of our label played it to Ryan

and fortunately he loved it."

Although you've only recently hit the charts, you've actually been releasing material for six years

now - how has your sound progressed in that time?

Kev Nish: "Before this album we released three mixtapes, all of which were very experimental and

about us figuring out our sound. There's rock, dance and hip-hop influences in our music, and the

hope is that Free Wired bridges all those gaps. It's a record that represents everything that we're

about. The record is also influenced by our lifestyle in LA, which is a multicultural place with no

boundaries. It really is a free wired life out there!"

You've recently supported both Robyn and Lady GaGa on tour. What was that like?

Prohgress: "Robyn is incredible - she's a beast! - and she's so good to the people around her.

When she did signings after her shows, she'd always introduce her fans to us as well. From GaGa

we learnt how to piece all the elements of music that you enjoy into one show - something that

we're very keen to do too."

Kev Nish: "Robyn's really bubbling in the US - she's probably the hippest, most credible artist there

is. She's cool and you can't buy cool. Her whole set gave us goosebumps - her music is so

technically and sonically advanced it's unreal."

Could a Robyn collaboration be on the cards?

Kev Nish: "We actually recorded an unofficial duet with her while we were staying in the same

hotel. We flipped one of her songs, 'Don't F**king Tell Me What To Do', and called it, 'Don't F**king

Tell Me What To Drink'. We played it to her, she loved it and she sent it back to us with some new

vocals on the chorus, saying, 'Don't f**king change my f**king song!' It was amazing."

Are you fans of GaGa's new single?

Kev Nish: "We're friends with the producer, Fernando Garibay, after he did a song called 'Fighting

For Air' for our album. He's so innovative - and 'Born This Way' is produced well, written well, and it's

hit number one straight away on iTunes, which speaks for itself really."

You feature on Frankmusik's new single 'Do It In The AM'. Did you like working with him?

Kev Nish: "It's a great track - it's his next single and the title track of his new album. That guy is so

cool and so edgy and he's a party animal! We brought him on tour with us because he's on our

level musically. We shot the video for the song the other day and it was a lot of fun. It was an all-

day party - we didn't do any real work that day!"

You collaborate with a lot of different artists, but who would be your dream duet?

Prohgress: "We sampled Beastie Boys on one of our songs, and just to get the clearing and

publishing rights from them was an honour. To do a show with them would be awesome -

they're so creative and a massive inspiration to us."

What are your plans for the rest of 2011?

Kev Nish: "We're back in the UK later this year touring with Rihanna and Calvin Harris. The rest of

the year is all about promoting this album around the world. The next single's going to be a

track called 'If I Was You', which we recorded with Snoop Dogg."

Prohgress: "We're just so pleased to be doing well in the UK - so much great music comes out of

here that it's an honour to sit amongst that."How did you guys think about the outcome of the

World of Jenks episode that featured you guys?

Harnage: It was entertaining…

Kusterbeck: Yeah, it was entertaining. Of course, not everything is what it seems due to

editing, and you kind of need that dramatic element. It was kind of cool because they got this

part of touring out there that not many people know about. I definitely don‘t think that it made

a ―bad thing‖ for us, but made people feel like they could relate to me and the band which is

true. We are just people on the road, we are just like everyone else, but we are doing it a little

bit differently. We still go through our problems and have our hard time, mine just happen to

be on T.V. (laughs).

When they came to you guys originally, were they looking to focus on you(Sierra)?

Harnage: They were. When we first got on a conference call with them, they said that the

show would be based around following Sierra, because the whole premise of the show was

based around what it was like to be in a female-fronted rock band. We did know about that

beforehand.

Have you had fans come up to you and say ―I could really relate to you in the episode…?"

Kusterbeck: Yeah, all of the time. It‘s really interesting though, because I will being the most

random place in the country and someone will come up to me and be like ―I saw you on MTV!

You are in that band!‖

SOUND: Hey, Alex! So, we know you‘ve answered this question before, but can you explain for us

again why you decided to call the album ‗Dirty Work‘?

Alex Gaskarth: The title of the album summarizes the theme of the songs, most of which centralize

around escapism; running from my problems, burning bridges because of those problems; and

the realization that its hard work to rebuild after those problems have torn people apart. There

was a time when the work I was doing felt wrong, and that my life choices had paved the way

for something worse to come. The record deals with overcoming that idea.

SOUND: You‘ve said that you‘re pulling back on the shiny production that fans heard on ‗Nothing

Personal.‘ What exactly can fans expect from this album?

AG: There‘s a bit more heart on this record all around. We made a point to leave little

imperfections alone. The approach to this record was ―don‘t sweat the small stuff,‖ and I

definitely think it shows.

SOUND: This is your first release on Interscope Records. How have things changed for you now

that you‘re on a major label?

AG: Not much has changed as far as the dynamic of the band or how we function. With

Interscope as our new family, we have an opportunity to grow beyond the capabilities of an

independent label. That‘s not to say that Hopeless ―wasn‘t good enough,‖ because Hopeless

was a phenomenal label to be tied into, and they did so much for us. Partnering with Interscope

simply introduced us to a larger team, with global reach and resources, essentially opening new

doors for what we can achieve as a band.

SOUND: Do you feel any kind of pressure on this album following the success of ‗Nothing

Personal‘?

AG: Sure. There‘s always pressure to live up to the success of the previous release, but you can‘t

spend all your time stressing about it. The main goal in the record making process is to focus on

what you want next and strive for it. That‘s all that matters.

SOUND: Your new album is slated to come out in a little over a month. Are you planning on

releasing a single for it before then? If so, what will it be and when will fans get to hear it?

AG: We never actually gave an official release date; it‘s all been left to speculation and

stretching of the facts. At this point, its looking more like the record will come out a bit later than

March, but I think folks can still expect to hear some new material in the coming weeks.

SOUND: There have been a lot of rumors about ‗Dirty Work.‘ Do you think the buzz is extra big

because of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr?

AG: Absolutely. Word spreads so quickly these days. We played a new song live for the first time

last night, and about an hour after the show, it was all over YouTube. Crazy.

SOUND: Why didn‘t ‗Actors‘ make it onto the final tracklisting?

AG: ‗Actors‘ was a song that we decided didn‘t represent the theme of the new album closely

enough. It‘s a great song in and of itself, which is why I ended up leaking the demo. I thought

people should hear it. That said, it didn‘t belong on ‗Dirty Work.‘

SOUND: You recently leaked ‗Art of the State‘ on Twitter in a special way. Were you surprised at

how fast it spread and what the reactions to it were?

AG: I was pleased with the reaction. There‘s a lot of hype building up around this release, and I

think now, more than ever, people are chomping at the bit for something new. Tumblr and Twitter

are like little online forest fires — I just tossed a little fuel on the flames. The track was not a clip —

that piece is in its entirety. A lot of folks were speculating that it was an intro track to the record,

but really, it‘s more of an ending to the story. We pulled a [Quentin] Tarantino.

SOUND: You guys are heading out on a six-week tour with

Yellowcard. Are you excited to get on the road and play your

new tunes?

AG: Absolutely. It all boils down to the live show. We‘ve been

touring on older material for quite some time now, so we‘re all

ready to hit the stage with fresh songs.

SOUND: What are you most looking forward to this year?

AG: The Best New Artist award we‘re going to win in the fall.

MUAHAHAHA!