Q&A:Nelly Furtado

Hey.Hazim here...again. Here's a Q&A interview with Nelly Furtado spilling her guts out about her dazzling futuristic pop gem of an album,Loose. This interview's interesting guys...Nelly Furtado might form a band with Timbaland and call it The Awake...

Your last album, Folklore, kind of disappeared after your debut Whoa Nelly was a massive hit. What do you learn from that?

I learnt you can't take anything for granted. In the beginning I had all these opportunities, like winning a Grammy, opening for U2, playing Saturday Night Live, doing photo shoots for Vanity Fair . . . I just thought everybody had that kind of luck first time out. Now I see it was beginner's luck. With Folklore people weren't ready, it's a mixture of luck and fate and trends. It was such an intimate and personal album it was a stepping stone for me. I wanted to show people I wasn't just this cartoon character from the I'm Like a Bird video. I guess I'm a little bit guilty of being that selfish artist who uses their albums to work through things.

It's a cult favourite, Folklore.

It's the fan favourite. The people who like that album really, really like it. Whoa Nelly was like the big loud girl at the party who was in everyone's face. Folklore is the dark serious girl on the couch who wants to have a serious discussion with you in the corner. Loose is the whole party.

Loose is a change in direction.

It sounds weird, but it's almost like I was born again as a female with the birth of my daughter (Nevis). I feel like I'm claiming my femininity more on this album.

You've got a more sexy image now.

I've definitely changed that way. Before my closet was 90 per cent sneakers and 10 per cent fancy shoes, now it's all high heels and one pair of gym runners. When I had a baby my body changed . . . as an artist you have to challenge your fans, show them you're evolving. People are attracted to change, to vulnerability.

You did a duet with Chris Martin on Loose's All Good Things, then his voice was removed. What happened there?

That version is on the internet somewhere. It wasn't a traditional duet. Chris really wanted to come in and meet (producer) Tim(baland). Tim didn't want to make it a duet so he sampled his voice and it weaved in and out. It was so beautiful, it was actually quite groundbreaking the way he infused his vocal in it. It's still really good without the vocal, but at the last minute his label said "No, we can't do that" because his vocal was a little more raw than it sounds on a Coldplay record. It was unfortunate, maybe we can put it on a B-side album. I want to do a B-side album next year, there was a lot of stuff left over from Loose.

So it was a mutual love-in between Chris and Timbaland?

Oh yeah. Timbaland was jamming (Coldplay's) X&Y like mad. All Timbaland would talk about was Coldplay. He was like "That guy's the truth". He would play the CD and sing all the lyrics. Coincidentally I bumped into Chris backstage at the MTV Awards in Miami. We used to be friends when we were doing our first albums in England. He said "You're working with Timbaland, that's amazing, can I come by? I'd love to see how he works." I said "Tim would love to meet you, you don't understand . . ."

When you say you used to be friends with Chris, is it true you were once 'special friends'?

No! Everyone thinks that's true, but no, we were just friends.

So how did Chris and Tim's meeting go?

Chris was kind of humble and shy and nervous. Timbaland was the same. They were like schoolkids. I had to be the one to say "Tim, turn your keyboard on. Chris here's your guitar, sit down, get on with it." I don't think they would have made music otherwise. Once we got going it was like Chris had this inner James Brown he had to exorcise.

Hang on: Chris Martin funky?

Hey, at one point Chris was doing his own rendition of Jay-Z's Dirt Off Your Shoulders. It was brilliant!

When HiT spoke to him Chris was coy about the rumours he's doing something solo with Timbaland.

I think he might do a solo project in the future. It'd be great. Actually Timbaland and I are talking about doing a Gorillaz/Gnarls Barkley-style band collaborative effort. We found it quite freeing in the studio, it was really liberating to not have the pressure of being a solo artist. In the music business you get so busy promoting, but when you let yourself make music magical things happen.

You said Timbaland is like 'ET on the boards'. Are you saying he's an extra-terrestrial?

It seems like he beams in a sound from outer space. It's really interesting to watch. He really becomes the rhythm when he makes beats.

You recorded a song, Crowd Control, with Justin Timberlake that hasn't ended up on either of your albums.

He might put it out as a B-side or something. He's very funny and really talented. I didn't really understand how talented he is until I worked with him. He's full of ideas and concepts.

And he's in your Promiscous video.

We invited him to shake his booty in the video. He was nervous, he was like "I'm the odd person out."

So let's talk more about this band you and Timbaland are thinking about. How serious is it?

We're even fooling around with band names, like the Awake. We were inspired by Eurythmics and Blondie. It'll be like the UNKLE project. When I was in the studio with Chris and Tim I felt I was watching something great happening. To tap into that intense energy is the reason I make music. You can't pay for those moments.

So you wouldn't front the band?

I'd be one of the singers, plus maybe Justin, Chris, Missy (Elliott) . . . it'd be neat if it was a real collective.

Between your contacts and Timbaland's contacts . . .

I think it'd be amazing. The idea is to shut off our Blackberrys and work for two weeks straight and call the album In Two Weeks. We'll see.