I’ve been a fan of Cocknbullkid for as long as I can remember, so when I had the oppurtunity to ask her some questions via email, I grabbed it. Read the result below.

disco naïveté: You have been recording music for a couple of years already. Your first couple of singles were produced by Metronomy (amongst others), but for the album you decided to go with Liam Howe (for most of it). Why did you make this decision?
Cocknbullkid: I met with Liam originally to just write a song and we got on really well. I realised we shared a lot of the same ideas about sound and production. So it seemed a no brainer.

You were born in London, but your parents are from Ghana. Does your Ghanian ‘background’ have any influence on your sound or lyrics?
I guess so. I am a first generation British Ghanaian so there was sometimes a conflict between my African heritage and my western upbringing. I think some of that tension has helped me write. I also think the colour and vivaciousness has shaped the sound. You’ll hear that I’ve used a lot of percussion like Marimbas, Tablas and big Toms on the album.

I heard you haven’t been listening to any music while you were recording Adulthood. Isn’t this a very hard thing to do?
Well I did listen to some music, just not anything contemporary or that was popular at the time. I didn’t want the distraction so it wasn’t too difficult. I listened to a lot of old stuff like old R&B, producers from the 70s and watched lots of films.

What do you think of the current pop scene?
The pop scene is healthy. People will moan that things aren’t as good as they were before but I’ve never believed that. I think we like to create nostalgia. But music has always been good and bad and always will be.

Which pop artist is your personal favourite?
At the moment, I like Lady Gaga, Adele, The Secret Sisters, Rufus Wainwright, Summer Camp and JME.

Your lyrics are somewhat autobiographical: isn’t it hard to share (certain aspects of) your personal life with the rest of the world?
It was at first but my favourite artists are the ones who have been honest in their music- even if it is brutal. I think I was hiding behind a lot before. Being honest can be testing but it’s worth it in the end I think.

Your lyrics are somewhat ironic/sarcastic as well. It reminds me of Marina & the Diamonds, who writes likewise lyrics. Is this just ‘you’ or do you think the writing/producing with Liam (who produced Marina’s The Family Jewels as well) made this happen? And why these sarcastic lyrics?
I’ve always been a lyric led artist, from the time I was 8 I was interested in lyrics. And I’m quite a dry person. I like black humour. So it seems inevitable the lyrics would follow suit. All my favourite lyricists are funny and dry- like Morrissey and Neil Hannon.

I’d like to thank Cocknbullkid for her time and wish her the best of luck with Adulthood! Her new single Hold On To Your Misery is out now: get it on iTunes.