Scooch have been dropped by PARLOPHONE RECORDS after three Top 15 hit singles, but, speaking exclusively to nme.com, RUSS from the band ensures fans that “We’re keeping our spirits up – this isn’t the end and Scooch will be around for a while yet.”
He continues: “When you realise how fickle the industry is, and how record companies are affected so much by the smallest thing, it doesn’t seem so bad. Different place, different time, you know?”
Russ also tells nme.com that he thinks acts like pop queen Kylie Minogue could actually have helped make the label’s decision. He commented: “I think it might have something to do with the fact that they’re having a lot of success at the moment on the label with bands like Kylie and a few others. There’s a lot of people who are perhaps – Well, not taking attention away, but who are having more attention spent on them.”
Rumours about Scooch‘s future first surfaced last month (August) when Natalie from the band confirmed that she was expecting a child, but Russ refuses to say whether this had anything to do with Parlophone‘s decision. “We haven’t had an in-depth meeting about it,” he admitted. “I suppose that’s a possibility but I really haven’t got a clue.”
Protogis of producers Mike Stock and Matt Aitken, Scooch followed the same blueprint that Stock and Aitken‘s ex-colleague Pete Waterman had done with Steps, putting out unpretentious pop for unpretentious pop fans. Their debut single appeared almost a year ago and in its wake came three Top 15 hits, including ‘More Than I Needed To Know’, which scaled the Top 5 earlier this year.
But while these figures seem insufficient to maintain the interest of Parlophone subsidiary Accolade, Scooch‘s overseas activities are flourishing. “We’re Number One in Japan at the moment,” Russ says. “We’ve got stuff being released over the next few weeks in Australia and other territories – finishing with Parlophone isn’t as much of a stopping point as it seems.”
He added: “We were quite shocked, but we’ve hardly been a failure and life goes on. We’re still here. Natalie has got to think along the lines of being a mother now – it’s a big step for anyone going into parenthood and she’s gearing herself up for that, and we’re supporting her.
“But we’re all still 100% behind Scooch and we’ll carry on, we’re doing all our gigs and things and once Natalie‘s ready to come back we’ll take it from there. We’ve got some awards nominations coming up, I’m doing some presenting, there are plenty of live dates and there’s no point in being negative about it. There are plenty of doors still open for us, it’s not too bad that one’s been closed.”