Liberty X

Liberty X were formed in 2001 after the members weren't selected for Hear'say, the official group for the ITV1 talent show Popstars. Michelle Heaton, Kevin Simm, Tony Lundon, Kelli Young, and Jessica Taylor then formed a brand new group initially dubbed Liberty. Their first single "Thinking It Over" cracked the UK Top 5, surprising fans and skeptics alike. A second single, "Doin' It", did not chart as well as their debut, making a modest impact at #14. Read more on Last.fm

Artist biography provided by Last.fm

Appearances

FIRST

24/05/2002
Just A Little
Mimed Performance

LAST

20/11/2005
A Night To Remember
Mimed Performance

TOTAL
(+ )

More Info

Last.fm

Artist Statistics

Below is a breakdown of the artist's performance types. Repeat performances are not counted, unless stated otherwise.

Mimed

Music Video

Screengrabs

Artist Appearances

Episode	Performance
20/11/2005	A Night To Remember Mimed Performance
16/01/2004	Everybody Cries Mimed Performance
Christmas Day 2003	Jumpin' Music Video
Christmas Day 2003	Everybody Cries Music Video
31/10/2003	Jumpin' Mimed Performance
Christmas Day 2002	Just A Little Mimed Performance
13/12/2002	Holding On For You Mimed Performance
20/09/2002	Got To Have Your Love Mimed Performance
14/06/2002	Just A Little Mimed Performance
31/05/2002	Just A Little Mimed Performance
24/05/2002	Just A Little Mimed Performance

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This content was taken from the BBC's original TOTP2 website, which was archived and discontinued in 2007. The original content is no longer available, but the TOTP Archive has preserved it. Please note that the content may not be up-to-date and may not accurately reflect today's views and opinions.

Interview date: Circa 2003

It's been six months since the release of your last single. What have you been up to since then?

Tony: We finished our first tour off in March which was wicked. Then we started preparing for our next album and recorded about 65 songs. We had a holiday and we're now preparing for a second arena tour.

Can you tell us what we can expect from the new album?

Kelli: Last time we wrote about three quarters of the album and this time it's about the same but we've had more input in the sense that we've started from scratch, so have had more influence with the music, as well as the lyrics and melodies. We're more confidant this time as we've had more experience but we're also a bit nervous. Our first album did so well that I think people expect a high quality of music to come from us and we want to live up to that expectation.

Tell us more about the new single, 'Jumpin''.

Michelle: It's out on the 20th October. It was one of the songs we performed on the tour, earlier this year, and it went down really well. It's also one of our favourites to perform - it's really lively and the dance routine is really cool. The video was filmed in north London. Basically we bring a warehouse alive with our song, so the mannequins come to life, the lights come on and everyone starts dancing; the place is jumping.

Which out of all your singles has been your favourite?

Kelli: I'll say the obvious one,'Just A Little' as that kicked things off for us properly although I think our first two singles were really good. 'Just A Little' was the starting point for everything to go a little bit mad. We also have that song to thank for being able to go up on Brits night and collect our award.

Your last video featured pop stars being churned out on a production line. Do you think it's hard to maintain a sense of individuality in the pop industry?

Tony: Yes, I think it's hard to develop your individuality because everyone works with the same producers. The producers have their own style and the bands adapt to that. When we started off we began by writing loads of different tracks and we've continued like that, so I don't think you can nail us down to one particular style. I'm not sure if we want to put ourselves in any one corner. I think we're pushing it in a lot of different directions and keeping it interesting for ourselves and for anyone who wants to buy a Liberty X album. I think for other acts, such as the Sugababes, they defintely have their own style. You know a Sugababes song when you hear it and I think that came from when they were kids hanging out and singing together. I think it's the most important ingredient for a lot of bands.

So, in a nutshell, what do you think it is about you that makes you different to everyone else?

Tony: I think we have the ability to move into different genres without faking it.

You've won a string of awards already. Any left that you still have your eye on?

Michelle: 'Best Album' at next year's Brits or 'Best Band', say at the Smash Hits or the TOTP Awards.
Tony: We've never been to the TOTP Awards. We're hoping for an invite.

What have been the best and worst bits of your pop career so far?

Kevin: The best bits have obviously been the Brit Awards and all the awards we've ever picked up. Performing on TOTP was one of my best ever moments because I'd watched it for years. To actually be there for our first single was amazing. In fact, every time is memorable because it's such a prestigious TV show. The worst moments were being sued and getting to No.14 with 'Doin' It'.
Tony: We got to the stage last Christmas when we'd worked hard all year, doing say three gigs a night and a promo during the day, staying in awful hotels and, although it was great to have the opportunity to do all of this, sometimes we were just so tired.

So, with this hectic schedule, how do you all chill out?

Michelle: [laughs] Get drunk.
Kelli: [correcting her] We go out and make merry. We go out quite a lot, it's on the increase these days. I'm making Jessica come out a lot more. We all do DIY as we've all bought our own flats. We are the DIY band, except for Tony.
Michelle: I've been making cupboards out of an Argos flatpack.

Now that you're all celebrities would you ever consider going on a reality TV show, say like 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here' or be a judge on 'Fame Academy'?

Kelli: I so would. I never thought I'd like to be a judge on a talent contest but we held auditions for the 'Jumpin' video and I really enjoyed the day. People coming in to sing and dance for you, it was wicked. I would love to be a judge on Pop Idol.
Tony: I would hate, more than anything in the world, to go on a TV show where there's a camera on you while you have a shower. I don't understand why they have cameras in the toilet - it's the most horrible thing. I really don't get that. It offends me.
Kevin: I'd like to go on one of those bootcamp ones, when you go in the army for a couple of months, just because I wanted to be in the army before the band. Yeah, I'm well hard, I beat Tony up all the time.
Michelle: I think you should do Celebrity Fear Factor. I watched it recently and I was so disappointed in Abs. What a wuss. [the others wince]. He wouldn't eat a slug. All the girls on the show did it.

You've got a big arena tour coming up. How are you preparing for that?

Tony: We've just had our first meeting to plan the overall stage show for the tour. For our first tour we did small theatres and we concentrated on doing all live vocals, live band and centering the show on the music. But now we're doing an arena tour we have to think of ways to make it a huge show because some people are sitting at the back and they don't just want to see five little specks in the front and hear music booming through the arena. We're concentrating on doing a big show but not making it too fake. We want to make it personal to the audience.