Real Blondes Won't Let Go!

The 'Real Blondes', one of the freshest new groups to emerge in the past year, have burst back on to the scene with their new single, 'I Won't Let Go'. The three girls, Rachelle Medley (17), Kristy Peters (15) and Kelly Webb (17) announced their arrival in 1999 with the sassy single 'We B Cool', which Kelly's Mum wrote! This was to be the beginning of their success and popularity. The girls have also been chosen to be a part of a nationwide campaign with Impulse to promote the 'Real Blondes Solar scent'. Tilt took Rachelle away from her busy schedule to find out what The Real Blondes have been up to...

How did the Real Blondes come onto the scene?

Rachelle: Well I was chatting to Kristy over the Internet in a chat room, when Kel would come on and say, 'Oh I'm a singer' and we'd be like, 'yeah, whatever!' A couple of times we had barred her from our conversation, but then we got chatting and she told us that her mum had a studio, and that kind of woke us up a bit. She said that if we didn't believe her then we should look it up for ourselves. We looked up the address and it was real and we figured that we would have to meet up some time. So, Kristy and I went together and we met Kel, and it took us around 2 months to get to the friendship stage. We were just singing along and then Kel's mum came in and said she wanted to start up a group, she had a song, and that we should sing along to it and see what happens. Suprisingly we did sound good together and then we recorded 'We B Cool' and here we are!

How old were you all at the time?

Rachelle: I was 15, Kel was 15 turning 16 and Kristy was 13.

It seems that the Real Blondes have matured and defined their sound somewhat after your first song, 'We B Cool'. How do you think that the group has changed since you first began?

Rachelle: I think that basically we have all just grown up in the public eye. Our views have just changed on everything. We know each other's limitations and we've grown up together. Our style has changed and our appearance has changed.

You've got a great follow up track called 'I Won't Let Go'. How did that come about?

Rachelle: We had a couple of singles in mind to do. We listened to it a couple of times and it kind of grew on us, so we thought, o.k, let's give this a go. With this song I think that teenagers can relate to it more than 'We B Cool' because it talks about a girl obsessed with this guy and being in love with him. It's also a lot more mature.

What are the group's inspirations musically in general?

Rachelle: We all have the same passion which is great. We're all saying hey let's give that a try and we're doing what we love. We know what we want at such a young age, and I think that's our inspiration. We also have idols....I love Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson. Kristy loves Gwen Stefani and Sheryl Crow and Kel likes Will Smith.

Now, you are a part of a brand new campaign with Impulse...can you tell us a bit about that?

Rachelle: The lady in our management had a connection with Impulse, and Impulse were looking for a new group to promote their new fragrance and they wanted an Australian group, because the last group was the Spicegirls. We had a couple of interviews with them and they got to know us, they told us what they wanted, and we thought it would be a great promotion for us. Because Impulse is Australian, it's good to back it with an Australian group.

What do you love the most about being in a girl pop group?

Rachelle: I love my fantasy becoming a reality. It's my dream come true. And I think being in a group is great..you hear of Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson, Natalie Imbruglia...you know, they travel a lot and they're on their own. You get to meet so many cool people along the way.

How would you describe yourself in a word or phrase?

Rachelle: Happy, everybody thinks I'm really happy!

How would you describe the 'Real Blondes' in a word or phrase?

Rachelle: They've got guts, and they're out to have fun.

In the past you were given the opportunity to sing at the 'Carols at the Domain'. What was that like to be singing alongside people like Vanessa Amorosi and the like?

Rachelle: I could not describe the feeling. Actually getting up on stage, I think there was 110,000 people there, all you see is a sea of light. I can't explain it to you! Your nerves go, you can't see anybody, you see light...it's really beautiful.

The 'Real Blondes' have done a bit of traveling and quite a bit of live work...do you prefer to be on stage performing or is in the studio recording the place for you?

Rachelle: Both, because they both have their good points and their bad points. If your in a mood where you think, yes! I'm going to go out and do it, then you want to be on stage, but if you're feeling like you want to concentrate on your voice, then you'd rather be in a studio.

What do you think about all the girl groups out at the moment trying to make it in the music world? Do you think that there's room for all of you?

Rachelle: For me, personally, I think it is great that heaps of people are getting out there, but I don't know about the room for everybody thing. I think there should be more Australian Groups and we're just proving now that there is great Australian Talent out there, like S2S and Killing Heidi. The more Australian the better!

You are all still so young...what do you like to do in your spare time?

Rachelle: I like being a teenager, going to parties, picking up boys, shopping, hanging out with my friends. I love to go to parties, I'm like the social one of the group....

I guess you would get to meet a lot of people in the entertainment industry... Who have you met that you loved and who are you dying to meet?

Rachelle: We met Vanessa Amorosi and she was really cool, people I would love to meet would be Destiny's Child, Whitney and Janet Jackson, you know, the big big big people. I'd be interested to know how they handle their lives. But we're all different. Kristy would like to meet certain people and Kel would like to meet certain people.

What type of music do you like listening to when you're away from the 'Real Blondes'?

Rachelle: I'm into R&B, Rap and Dance, Kelly will listen to anything and everything, and Kristy is more of an Alternative girl, she's into Limp Biscut, Silverchair and all of that kind of stuff.

So what's next for the Real Blondes?

Rachelle: Basically we're just working on the singles, and hopefully an album later on, but now we're just concentrating on the next single.

Will there be a tour coming up?

Rachelle: There should be a tour really soon...

- Olivia Belvedere

This interview first appeared in TILT Street Mag in ISSUE #16, AUGUST 2000.