19 February 2016
Newsdesk
Beth Ditto has revealed her plans for a solo record - a lot of harp and playing the spoons.
The 34-year-old singer is most famous for fronting band Gossip, although she did release a solo EP back in 2011. In a webchat with The Guardian on Thursday (18Feb16), Beth told fans she is hoping to start working on a solo offering in the new future.
"I have plans for a solo record," she said. "It's mostly a lot of harp; I play the spoons really well. And songs like Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry Be Happy, but sad."
Beth also cited Gossip's 2003 album Movement as her inspiration for her solo work, adding: "I would love to do something as raw as that was, it was a fun record to make. Hopefully yes, give me some time. It's my favourite Gossip record. Because it was so lo-fi, and it was the first time we had ever written songs - before it was a job."
Gossip delighted fans when they performed at the world-famous Glastonbury music festival in Somerset, England, closing the event in 2007 and then performing on the Pyramid Stage the following year.
However, when asked if she might be making an appearance at the festival this year, Beth didn't hold back with her response.
"F**k no. Still riding on that Standing in the Way of Control hype... I'm working on part two, Sitting in the Way of Control," she laughed. "My legs don't support my weight any more. It's so weird that people think that about me... like I'm walking with a cane! They should be more worried about my smoking than my weight."
The larger than life star is known for her sense of humour as well as her vocal talents. During the webchat she revealed that when 1990 movie Ghost became a hit, people started mocking her surname.
"I didn't know my last name was a word until the movie Ghost came out. Patrick Swayze is like: ditto," she said. "I had one teacher who called me Ditto Machine because I was so loud - it was like a photocopier before a photocopier, you had to crank it. That's how broke the school I went to was."
