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As I sit here in a rundown, old pub in the backstreets of Brixton, I can’t help but wonder what to expect. From what I’ve heard and read about this new front woman of British music, I need to be seriously scared: with stories of sex, drugs, and of course, rock and roll, I’m buckling myself down for one hell of a bumpy ride…
Scarlet, it feels like I can’t open a magazine, newspaper or listen to the radio these days without hearing stories of your latest antics. It seems you’re quite a hell raiser!
I know its crazy isn’t it? I didn’t think people could find my life this interesting! Last week I was reading a gossip mag, I think it might have been Heat, and there was just a photo of me getting into my car! I mean what’s so exciting about that? And as for falling out of cabs, do you have any idea how hard it is to get out of them without flashing and falling over? It’s bloody hard!
I can imagine that it can get pretty irritating, how do you cope with all this media attention? I mean you have only just turned 20!
(Sarcastically) Haha, well all publicity’s good publicity isn’t it? I just think ‘Do these people have nothing better to do with their lives than wait outside my house and snap me picking up milk and yawning?’ But then I think to myself: stop moaning, if they didn’t do that no-one would actually care what you did or know who you are, so I suppose I am gonna have to be grateful to them for keeping my career going! I’d just rather be known for writing and producing great music than my social life, you know?
Talking about great music, your new single ‘Broken Bones’ is out later this month, how are you expecting it to be received as it’s a slightly different sound from your previous singles?
Yeah, I think that by now everyone just thinks I’m a bit of a weirdo, indie, rock singer, who can only get up on stage and scream manically into a mike. I wrote this track because I wanted to prove to my critics that I can actually sing (and hopefully quite well)! The song is basically about that old nursery rhyme ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me’, and it’s just sarcastic lyrics about how wrong that actually is.
Sounds immense, I’m sure that Frett readers are going to love it! Now recently, solo singers have been creating elaborate stage names for themselves, like Marina and the Diamonds and Florence and the Machine, so why did you just decide to stick with your real name?
I don’t know how to break this to you but my name isn’t actually Scarlet!
No way! So what is your name?
My real name is... Wait (Calls to manager) Kev, am I allowed to reveal this yet? Yeah? Okay then, here’s an exclusive for you, I’ve never said it in an interview before. My name is actually Charlotte, but I’ve always thought it was a bit posh; I wanted something a bit more edgy. I’ve got a scar on my head from when I ran into the corner of a wall when I was a kid, so Scarlet just seemed pretty appropriate!
Now, it’s a Frett tradition to ask the next bunch of questions: It’s time for your final 5! Ready?
Bring it on.
First Gig?
The first gig I ever played was horrific. It was at the smallest pub you can imagine in the middle of nowhere and in a grimy backroom, with sleazy men just leering at me. I was so shit scared that I played about 2 songs and made a speedy exit! Still didn’t put me off though, just made sure I chose a better venue the next time!
First Record You Ever Bought?
This might sound pretty weird considering the type of music I make now, but I was obsessed with Eminem when I was a kid, I think I was about 10, and I thought hip hop and rap music was amazing. I saved up my pocket money for weeks, and went to the record store and paid for ‘The Real Slim Shady’ all by myself. I’m not ashamed to say I was quite proud to have something that was completely mine!
Most Underrated Record?
A couple of weeks ago when I was ransacking a record store, I found some old tracks from a Swedish artist, Lykke Li, and was totally inspired. Her track ‘Tonight’ is so eerily beautiful, I think it’s what pushed me into a softer sound to my music.
I Wish I’d Written…
‘We Will Rock You’ by Queen. I mean absolutely anyone could have come up with those lyrics, and look at it now. Probably one of the most epic songs ever, and great to shout along to!
Star You Most Want To Meet?
Debbie Harry! I absolutely adore Blondie, even though they weren’t my era. My dad still has loads of vinyl records up in the loft, and sometimes I just like to go up there, dust down the record player and crazy dance to the classics!
Finally, I can’t leave this interview without asking the question that everyone wants answered: did you really once end up on a pub crawl with Pete Doherty?!
(Laughs) Well, I’m gonna be honest with you, I was so wasted at the time I didn’t even realise it was him until my mate told me the next day as I was chuckin’ up in the sink! Basically the short story is that me and my band were having a quiet drink in Camden, and he walked in with a group of his mates. Next thing I remember I was dancing on tables, screaming my head off, then I woke up covered in splinters lying on a wooden floor! Seriously though of what I can remember he was a right laugh and a proper decent bloke.

Scarlet’s new single ‘Broken Bones’ is out on April 2nd, and her official UK tour begins in at London’s Shepard Bush Empire on June 6th. Tickets are available from March onwards.