Neon Jungle braveheart Shereen Cutkelvin always believed she would be a …
July 28, 2014 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
NEON Jungle singer Shereen Cutkelvin was stunned when she and her bandmates stumbled across the song that would become their next single – Braveheart.
Shereen, 17, from Lanark, and her bandmates Amira McCarthy, Jess Plummer
and Asami Zdrenka had been flicking through the laptop of their producer listening to ideas when they landed on the aptly named song.
She said: “When we were in the studio recording our song Welcome To The Jungle, the planned follow-up to our debut single Trouble, we heard Braveheart for the first time.
“We knew the producer had more tunes so we were going through his laptop and as soon as we stumbled across it, we knew we needed to record it straight away.
“We didn’t even know the title at first so that wasn’t the reason we went for it. As soon as we heard the beat, we just knew it was the one.
“We were in the studio until 5am recording it. If we hadn’t randomly found it like that I don’t think we would have recorded it.
“It felt even more awesome when I found out the name. The beat was killer, it was calling us so we released it as our second single instead.”
Braveheart, which hit the UK singles chart at No 4 and No 2 in Scotland, is Shereen’s favourite track on the girls’ debut album Welcome To The Jungle, which is out tomorrow.
It features songs including new track Louder as well as Shereen’s other favourites Fool Me and Sleepless In London, the latter of which she claims reminds her of her initial move south.
She said: “I connect to Fool Me emotionally and Sleepless In London makes me think about when I moved to London 10 months ago.
“My pal, who had already been to London, was so scared to go on the Tube.
“I asked her at the time why she was scared because it is just a Tube.
“I didn’t really think about it much because I’m the kind of person who lives in the moment. I never thought, ‘OMG, I’m scared’.
“I was ready for the move for a long time so I never felt I was just diving into the deep end.”
The album is finally released tomorrow and Shereen describes its content as eclectic.
She added: “We are into our own sounds and have different tastes, which shows in this album. It’s not as if we merge into one.
“There is something there for everyone. We recorded way more than we needed and got a bit excited when it was finished as we were in the studio recording it for about a year.
“We picked 12 from all the songs to make the final cut and have a deluxe version with extra ones. The album definitely does reflect us 100 per cent. We changed tracks to suit our style but we didn’t get a chance to write on this album because of time limits.
“We are going to be writing for the second one.”
Shereen, who knew she was ready to pursue her singing dream from an early age, has been writing songs for as long as she can remember. The singer, who used to put her own material out on YouTube before being asked to audition for the band, said: “I’ve got books and books of songs I’ve written.
“I keep a pen and paper beside my bed because I always get creative when I’m trying to sleep.
“Between songs and selfies on my iPhone, I’m always out of memory.”
She added: “It’s weird. I always knew I was going to be in the music industry but I didn’t know if I would be in a big group or not.
“I always said to my mum and dad, ‘I’m moving to London when I’m 16 and going to be a singer’.
“Maybe 16 was a bit young but I just knew it was going to happen.
“I grew up with my musical family. I used to pray every night and dream about being on a big, huge stage and now that dream has come true.”
After being put together by their manager in February 2013, Neon Jungle went straight into the studio to make music. Very early on, their first track Trouble got them a tour support slot with Jessie J.
After being released last August, the single was discovered online by lingerie firm Victoria’s Secret, who asked them over to the States to play a fashion show gig in November. Then in December, the girls went top 10 in the US Billboard dance charts.
Shereen said: “We did Victoria’s Secret last November when we had 5000 followers and we just found out the night before we flew out that it was confirmed.
“We had to go the long way to New York via Toronto but it was amazing and from then on, it’s just been crazy.”
Having built on their success in the UK and the US with third single Welcome To The Jungle, they are now set to have even greater fame after being signed to RCA records in the States.
Shereen said: “We just signed with RCA in the US a couple of months ago and we are just kind of taking it as it comes.
“We flew over there and they had a room full of RCA label execs.
“We were standing there and we were introduced to this room full of very important people. We sang Royals, Louder and Trouble and they began clapping and smiling.
“Asami introduced herself as me and said, ‘I’m Shereen’ because she was nervous. At the end of the intros, they said, ‘Welcome to the family’. I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to cry right now’.”
Shereen and her bandmates can’t wait to get stuck in to the market Stateside and try out different songs there.
She said: “It is a different market over there and the album is slightly different to our UK album. We are trying out more stuff and it’s going to be exciting to do another album.
“I know not everyone understands me when I talk, even in London, so I already speak slower when I’m down south.
“I actually feel they understand me more in America than in London.
“I have to speak slower and finish words properly in London but when I go back to Scotland, I get proper Scottish and relax.”
The girls are set to follow in the path of other big female groups such as the Spice Girls or Shereen’s personal favourites The Supremes and having played at festivals including T in the Park this summer. And they are already keen to start planning their own tour.
Shereen said: “We are very competitive in ourselves and eager to do it and work so hard to get to the top.
“There is no point in aiming for second place and we want our own Neon Jungle tour after being on tour with Jessie J and the support act for others.
“We don’t know what to expect with our debut album but top five would be amazing and No 1 would be crazy. I’d probably faint or something.
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed but it would be brilliant to go back home to Scotland and celebrate that.”
