FEATURE: Modern-Day Queens: Diana Vickers

FEATURE:

Modern-Day Queens

PHOTO CREDIT: Leo Cackett

Diana Vickers

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MY Modern-Day Queens feature…

PHOTO CREDIT: Alex James for OK!

celebrates remarkable women right across the industry. They might be artists who have been around for a couple of years or a lot longer. Diana Vickers is a Lancashire-born artist who was the semi-finalist on The X Factor in 2008, finishing in fourth place. Vickers has released two studio albums so far: 2010’s Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree and 2013’s Music to Make Boys Cry. Both incredible albums, I am focus on her now as she released a brilliant single, Ice Cream, in August. I am excited by the prospect of a new album from her. I am starting out with an interview from last year that Diana Vickers had with OK! Appearing in a new production, I Wish You Well: The Gwyneth Paltrow Ski-Trial Musical, she also spoke about the highs and lows of appearing on The X Factor as a teenager:

“The 33 year old from Blackburn, who has opened up exclusively to OK! about her hilarious new lead role in I Wish You Well: The Gwyneth Paltrow Ski-Trial Musical – a show complete with musical numbers like I’m Gwynnocent, money guns and a giant vagina candle – also reflected on her life-changing time on the show which shot her to fame.

Diana admits that she’s happy, over 15 years later, that after what’s been a difficult journey at times, that she has been accepted into the theatre community and isn’t just “that girl off The X Factor”. But she is also the first to agree that Simon Cowell ’s seminal talent show was a huge springboard for her career. Diana was mentored by Girls Aloud’s Cheryl in the Girls category and came fourth, in the same year as Alexandra Burke, JLS and her former boyfriend Eoghan Quigg.

Looking back at her time on The X Factor, Diana does admit there was one element of it that she did find difficult, the ‘pressure’” to finding herself suddenly a known name, overnight - and be judged on her performances by grown-ups sitting on a panel.

She says: “I was really young, and being judged in front of a lot of people – all these adults, telling you their opinions. But I really enjoyed it. And even back then I was able to say, ‘Diana, it’s just a TV show,’ which was healthy. I took it all with a pinch of salt. I remember I’d get quite nervous onstage. Even now, I’m super-confident but I have an anxious side, which people are surprised about.

She adds, recalling some of the crazier times on the show: “But yeah… I have some mad memories, Kate Moss running about backstage, Britney Spears appearing, Beyoncé… It was a whirlwind.”

The actress also believes it was her self-belief and drive that saw her even have the guts to audition on The X Factor - and continues to push her on today. “I don’t feel like I’ve changed, I still have that drive,” she says, thoughtfully”.

There are a couple of great new interviews with Diane Vickers. Speaking with MiS Magazine, they highlighted an artist who, with Ice Cream, “delivers a camp, queer-pop anthem that nods to her early hits while embracing a new era of playful freedom”. Even though Vickers has no immediate plans for an album or anything extensive, she did talk about the urge and necessity of putting out a camp single. One that is for her L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ fanbase. Vickers was also asked about being part of a comedy duo and her experiences on The X Factor:

“After nearly 12 years, you’re back with Ice Cream. What made now the right moment to return to solo music?

I performed at Mighty Hoopla a couple of years ago, and it really reignited this sort of fire in me where I wanted to sort of make music again, just absolutely love my LGBTQIA+ community and their reaction and response to me. I was like, wow, there is definitely a market, an audience here for me. And I do a lot of gay gigs at the moment. I’ve sort of been doing that circuit and just had a really, really great response. And I was like, well, I’m doing this circuit. I’d absolutely just love to do some new music as well. So, it’s definitely for the gays, theys and the girlies.

Your new single feels like a wink to your early hits but with a fresh, queer-pop energy. How did you shape its sound and vibe?

Yeah, I’m glad that you think it’s queer anthem. The minute I said hi, I’m back. Did you miss me? I was like, ok, this is gonna be camp and then ice cream came out. I’ve been listening to a lot of Kylie. I think Queen Kylie for me. I was just sort of listening to a lot of her and that. Yeah, that definitely inspired me a lot.

Fans have been calling for your comeback for years. How does it feel to finally give them the summer anthem they’ve been waiting for?

Yeah. I saw a meme that went viral recently and it was saying we don’t get a song of the summer this year because we’ve been bad and I saw that go and sort of circulate. I was like ohh wait but little do they know it feels really, really, really good. I was, like, super excited as well because I knew I was playing at Manchester Pride on the weekend of release and I was like, OK, it’s the week, the summer week of the defrosting of ice cream. I’m melted and I’m ready to serve.

Gen Z are rediscovering you through TikTok while millennials see you as a nostalgic indie-pop icon. How do you navigate speaking to both audiences at once?

Gosh, I hadn’t even really thought about the whole Gen Z. I was in an interview the other day thinking, you know, millennials remember you, but then you got this whole little audience are gonna look at you. Like, I literally didn’t think about them. It’s quite overwhelming because obviously when I released music, or even when I was on when I released my first album, I didn’t even have Instagram or TikTok, and so even now doing the new formula with it all is really overwhelming. And I’m like, oh my God, am I doing it right and yeah, hopefully, they’ll connect with it. You know, it’s fun and pop and camp and playful. So, I’m really hoping that the millennials and the Gen Z love it and up for it.

Looking ahead, what can we expect after Ice Cream — more singles, maybe a full album, or something completely unexpected?

I do have an absolute banger up my sleeve. I really wanted to come out with Ice Cream. I thought that was really camp and fun for the gays, theys and girlies, but I definitely have another banger. That’s an undeniable one in my eyes up my sleeve and I would love to get that out there. And then, yeah, let’s just see. I want to focus on my acting and other projects, and my dream would just sort of do a play, do a musical, do a TV show, do a movie and then bam, out of nowhere, queer banger for you all when you least expect it”.

Diana Vickers is definitely busy right now. In addition to the comedy duo, Ki and Dee, and her new podcast, Just Between Us, it is also great that we have new music from a fantastic artist. Numéro Magazine spoke with a multi-talented artist who “is stepping back into her pop star identity, this time on her own terms”. It would be amazing if there was more music from Diana Vickers. An artist that I have been following for years, Ice Cream, let’s hope, marks a productive new phase:

“Your debut album shot straight to No. 1. How do you look back on that era of your career now?

I look back on it really fondly. It was such an exciting time, but also a lot of pressure for someone young. I was so proud of myself when the album hit number one, because it’s not always a given when you come from a reality TV show. There’s a stigma attached, and it could’ve gone either way. I’d done the West End before even releasing the album, so I really wasn’t sure what to expect. But the way it was received was amazing, and I just remember being so proud of myself.

Songs like ‘Once’ and ‘The Boy Who Murdered Love’ are still cult favourites. Do you feel pressure to recreate that sound, or are you eager to evolve?

Honestly, I don’t feel pressure to recreate anything. I love good pop, I credit myself with knowing how to write a proper pop song, but this time I wanted to do something different. Something a bit camper, a bit sexier. I didn’t want to mimic the past, I just wanted to make a really great little banger.

Your career spans music, theatre, comedy, and now podcasting. Do you see all of these as connected, or do they feel like separate creative worlds?

They’re connected in some ways, because I think that cheekiness runs through everything I do, but I also see them as quite separate. I’m literally about to do a play where I play an 11-year-old boy and an older male police officer in a show about the witch trials that’s a completely different world to releasing a pop single. But that’s what I love, slipping into all these different hats and creative spaces. And then something like the Gwyneth Paltrow musical I did, it was so fun and camp, and honestly really inspiring too. Those moments definitely fed into me wanting to embrace that side of myself again with the music.

Your new podcast ‘Just Between Us’ launched straight to #2 in the UK. Why do you think listeners have connected with it so strongly?

I think it’s because, for a long time, it was still pretty taboo for women to talk openly about sex and pleasure. The podcast gives people a safe, honest space to connect with those conversations. We have ordinary people calling in with their real issues, and listeners really resonate with that. Everyone has questions or challenges in their sex and love life, so hopefully it feels like a warm, safe hub where they can go, “Oh my gosh, this is me. I feel seen”.

I wanted to spotlight Diana Vickers, not only for music, but everything else does. An acclaimed a stage actor, a comic and a podcaster, it has been a busy year for this incredible talent. Someone who I know will put out more new music when she is ready. With an adoring and dedicated fanbase, it is clear that Diana Vickers is…