Interviews - The Times

The Times Interview with Kelli.

Second life for a cat called Ali.
Singer Kelli Ali has kicked off her Sneakers, and pulled on her Bootsy for a solo career. She tells Lisa Verrico, what it all means.


Four years ago, Kelli Ali had a ten minute meeting that changed her life. The singer with the trip-hop trio, Sneaker Pimps, had just returned from a sold out American tour, that had attracted the attention of Madonna, who was keen to sign the band in the States. In Britain, Sneaker Pimps debut album, 'Becoming X', had been hailed as one of the highlights of 1997 and spawned the hit singles, '6 Underground', and 'Spin Spin Sugar'. Life couldn't have been better.
"We were about to start work on a second album," says Ali. "It was exciting, the US tour had gone brilliantly, and 'Becoming X', had been much more successful than we could have hoped for. Then the boys in the band called me into the office and sacked me. I couldn't believe it, i had no idea what i'd done wrong.  For about an hour, i felt sick. I was terribly hurt because the three of us had always got on great. Being on tour for months had been a bit hard, but i never suspected they wanted to get rid of me.  But i guess that says it all, if i hadn't even relised there was something wrong, we couldn't have been as close as i'd thought."
It seems that Sneaker Pimps founders, Liam Howe, & Chris Corner, a former DJ duo-turned studio producers, were jealous of the attention the lovely Ali had been getting ('i-D' and 'Dazed & Confused', had made her their covergirl. And during the US tour, radio stations were more interested in her, than the lanky lads). Consequently, the boys decided to front the band themselves, with Corner on vocals.  Rather than try to talk them out of it, Ali decided to go it alone.
"I should have been depressed," she says, "but in fact i was exhilarated. I had always planned to go solo some time in the future, and i had already written several songs. I decided to cut all my ties with the band and find new musicians to work with. I haven't spoken to ether of the boys since."  As it turned out, the band's second album, 'Splinter', underwhelmed the critics.
Until she joined Sneaker Pimps, Birmingham born Ali (who previously used the surname, Dayton, but switched back to her real name as a tribute to her late father), had been playing in a punk band. Working with Howe, & Corner, had been her first foray into into beats-based music.
"I bought my first electric guitar at 15, and i'd always played in rock bands," Ali says. "I knew nothing about the dance scene, but i loved the stuff i'd done with Sneaker Pimps, so i decided to keep making dance based music, but also use guitars."
Having freed herself from her contract, Ali bought a keyboard and over the next year began working with the high profile producers Rick Nowells (Madonna and Dido), and Marius De Vries (Massive Attack, Bjork).
"I was introdued to both by mutual friends at parties in London," Ali says. "Marius lives in Cambridge, so i went up there and worked on some songs with him. Then Rick invited me out to his studio in LA. I ended up staying for 18 months, co-writing a load of new songs with him and meeting fantastic people. Robbie Williams was out there, and Billy Bob Thornton used to hang out at the studio because he's a friend of Rick.  LA is supposed to be a really shallow city, but i loved it. In LA people are facinated by creativity, the whole place thrives on it."
When Ali mentioned that she was a big Doors fan, Nowells surprised her by inviting the former Doors drummer John Densmore, to play percussion on one of her songs. The track 'Kids' - a Garbage like mix of techno beats, rock guitars, and sweet, disembodied vocal - comes out next week as her debut solo single.
"Kids', is about teenage cults." says Ali. "It's me imagining a teenage cult kidnapping their hero, taking him out to the desert, then killing both him and themselves, in some sort of ritual.  I know it sounds strange, but it makes sense when you hear the song."
Ali wrote equally odd lyrics for a collaboration with Bootsy Collins. "Again he was someone i met at a party. He walked in wearing his big, star shaped, glasses, and the whole room went silent. I'm a real Funkadelic fan, so i started talking to him. He ended up asking me to sing on one of his songs. He sent me this great, pumping party track called 'Zero Gravity' (renamed, 'Play With Bootsy'). It sounded sort of space age, so i wrote lyrics about an alien girl who comes to Earth on a mission to play with Bootsy. She takes a rocket over and ends up recording with him.  When he heard it, he went crazy. He loved it."
Since returning to London late last year, Ali has completed her album, 'Tigermouth', due out later this year, with additional help from the producer Pascal Gabriel, Primal Scream's Andrew Innes, and the remixer Jagz Kooner. The songs include a spooky, New Order, influenced, 'Teardrop', and 'Infinite Stars', a rock 'n' roll-meets techno track, in which Ali sounds like a young Debbie Harry.  The singer has even managed to make up with the boys from Sneaker Pimps, well, sort of.
"we bumped into each other in a restaurant recenty, in the toilet of all places. We were so shocked to see each other, we didn't actually speak, we did have a hug.  Do i think they regret getting rid of me ? Probably not. But i don't regret getting fired ether. Looking back, it's the best thing that could have happened to me."