It’s astonishing how much ground one conversation can cover in a short time, isn’t it? You start by describing where you are and how you are, and before you know it, you’re knee deep in Frank Carter from Gallows sobbing onstage while he tattoos his brother on his mum, or something.

And this is a chat with Frankie Sandford, a former member of S Club 8 and now one fifth of the Saturdays. Who knows where we’d have ended up in another five minutes? Making a breadbin on the moon?

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ChartBlog: Hello Frankie! How’re you doing?
Frankie: Hello, you sound like you’re in a toilet!

ChartBlog: It’s quite a boomy room. More of a cubicle, really. And the seat is a bit cold. You sound like you’re in a car.
Frankie: I am in car. I’m on a radio tour, somewhere in between Coventry and Birmingham.

ChartBlog: Is it true you went to Reading Festival this year?
Frankie: Yes I did.

ChartBlog: I’m told you were camping next to the team from The 5:19 Show*, did you spot them?
Frankie: They were camping next to me? Really? How awesome! It was all a bit cosy there. Tell them I hope they weren’t the noisy ones!

ChartBlog: Who were you there to see?
Frankie: Brand New, Kids In Glass Houses, You Me At Six, and Gallows.

ChartBlog: GALLOWS? Are you a big fan?
Frankie: Well it’s funny. I’ve seen them before live, and I like watching them live. I have liked some of their music but I don’t really listen to it, but I like to watch them live, which is a bit weird.

ChartBlog: They are VERY good live…
Frankie: Yeah, it’s just like…he’s mental! I love it! You have such a good time there. It’s awesome.

ChartBlog: He didn’t get out his tattooing equipment?
Frankie: No he did that last time, when I saw him at Reading last time. I didn’t go the year before, I went the year before that. And he tattooed Reading on himself, somewhere. But this year he kept crying! It’s so weird because he looks so angry when he’s performing, and screaming and sweating and getting angry. But he was crying and getting all emotional. He rang to say “I love you” to his girlfriend on the phone, he brought his mum and dad out, he brought his brother out and started crying when his brother was with him. It was so weird!

ChartBlog: …and then the band launched into another song in which he screams a bunch of anger at the world
Frankie: [laughing] Yeah!

ChartBlog: It must be quite a weird situation for you as a band right now, since the Sugababes have…become changed…does it feel like there’s an open goal in front of you and you’ve got the ball?
Frankie: Um…obviously for us it’s like we are the only girl band around at the moment, so that’s quite cool, but I think the Sugababes are gonna come back bigger and better. They’ve just got so much press about it, like literally we’ve been on the radio tour all week, and all we’ve been asked about is the Sugababes. It’s just gonna be like this massive…like everyone’s gonna be waiting to see that first video.

ChartBlog: Does the idea that you can replace all the members in a band make you feel at all insecure?
Frankie: No, cos I don’t think we are one of those bands. I think it’s kind of like…I’m not saying we are like the Spice Girls, but with them it’s like “We ARE the Spice Girls”, and we ARE the Saturdays. I think the Sugababes may be a bit more of a brand, and it’s something they’ve always done. If one of us left then there would just be four. You can’t replace a person.

ChartBlog: I think the thing with the Sugababes is that Siobhan left when they were so young and new, and then they came back with a brilliant song. So by the time they established themselves properly, people were used to the idea that someone could leave. You’re already established as the five of you. In any case, if anyone does go, I hope it’s not you.
Frankie: Aww thank you! I’m not planning on it.

ChartBlog: Soo…what’s the new album all about?
Frankie: Well, it’s called ‘Wordshaker’, and it’s a step up from the first album. When we recorded the first album we were getting to know each other and we were kind of becoming the Saturdays. No we ARE the Saturdays, so it’s more us. We’ve written a song on it, and it’s just really good. The songs are still really catchy but they’re bigger than the last songs.

ChartBlog: Tell me about the one you wrote. Is it a collaborative effort between all five of you?
Frankie: Yeah. It’s called ‘Deeper’, and it’s a slow song. It’s a happy love song instead of all these ones that are like “we don’t need you, we’re better off without you”, so we thought it’d be good to write a nice one.

ChartBlog: It is getting a bit much, the songs from the lady pop stars about how rubbish the men are.
Frankie: Well, it’s got to be done, hasn’t it?

And that, as Girls Aloud would have it, is that.

Source: BBC – Chart Blog