Melanie C spoke to the ECHO at Liverpool's Jacaranda Baltic as she celebrates her latest album with a performance in the city
Melanie C at Jacaranda Baltic as she chats to the ECHO about her latest album
Melanie C at Jacaranda Baltic as she chats to the ECHO about her latest album(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
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"I sadly only ever got to Cream once," says Melanie C. Before she was a member of the Spice Girls and known around the globe as Sporty Spice, Melanie found a love of rave culture and house music while on holiday with friends in Spain that has stuck with this day. “For a few years I was really immersed in that culture and I really loved it," she tells the ECHO.
"I was living in London at the time. I was a student, so a lot of my clubbing went on down there. But when I came home and saw my mates, we definitely got to Cream. We got to Garlands. We used to go out for a few drinks of Baby Blue beforehand. I mean, that time in the city, the age I was at as well, I just remember how much fun it is here.
"It's a great university town as well, isn't it? So there's always a real buzz. I remember Baa Bar was always really buzzy as well. Great atmosphere down at Concert Square. So, yeah, we used to have a lot of fun."
Fast-forward to now, and Melanie is back in Liverpool to perform at Jacaranda Baltic as her ninth studio album, 'Sweat', is released today (May 1). The album is described as a "love letter to those heady and formative days," before she became known across the world as Sporty Spice, and was swept up in '90s rave culture.
Melanie C with fans at Jacaranda Baltic meeting fans
Melanie C with fans at Jacaranda Baltic today(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
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Melanie said: "The Spice Girls happened quite quickly after that, so all of the social life and personal life got put on hold a little bit. Of course, you know, I had this incredible adventure with the Spice Girls, which has never stopped.
"But making this album and starting DJing, it made me realize how much I love that genre of music. I wanted to bring the music I play as a DJ closer to what I perform as an artist It's just been really fun taking all my experience of being a solo artist to Spice Girl and then leaning into different types of house music, being inspired from all these different genres within it.
"I wanted to make something positive. I've been really enjoying life, travelling around the world, performing, and I just wanted to make a really positive album and I feel like I've done that.
"This album has been amazing. We released four singles before the whole album was released today and every single one has been received brilliantly.
"It's got great airplay on the radio. It's an international campaign, you know, I'm lucky enough being a Spice Girl to have that international career. I've been over in Australia, North America and I'll be going out on tour later this year to all those places and yeah, people are just loving it so far, so I couldn't be happier."
Melanie C chatting to the ECHO's what's on editor Hannah Rees
Melanie C chatting to the ECHO's what's on editor Hannah Rees(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
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While her career continues to take her across the globe, the singer admits that she's "always a little peeved" as she doesn't often bump into Scousers.
She added: "It's funny because I just bumped into somebody I know around the corner and I was at Coachella this year and there was a family sitting down and a guy had an Everton flag over him.
"I had to stop him because I was like, 'You don't see many of them around here'. It was so nice. It's now we're growing, it's spreading from Glastonbury and people are getting to Coachella now, which is brilliant."
The 52-year-old recently admitted in an interview with Magic Radio that performing with Spice Girls at Glastonbury Festival's Pyramid Stage would be "bucket list". However, she told the ECHO how she'd love to play a show closer to her hometown.
She said: "Well, Spice Girls or me? I'd love to play Anfield, but I mean, with the Spice Girls, the opportunity's endless, Glastonbury would be amazing, Anfield would be incredible. People talk about the sphere in Las Vegas but I'm not the one you need to talk to, you know what I mean? I'm there, I'm ready, I'm in training, I'm ready to go. But I'm always up for playing everywhere."
More information about Melanie C's upcoming tour dates and new album can be found on her website.