The big interview: Paloma Faith

Paloma Faith is having money troubles.

The singer, rarely seen without eight-inch-high heels and never knowingly understated, has been putting the finishing touches to her latest tour. On her last outing, the set included a grand white piano, an entire stage transformed into a garden and a mind-numbing array of costume changes. This time, Paloma has equally elaborate plans. Except there’s one small problem. There isn’t enough in the bank to pay for it.

“I love to play live, it’s my favourite thing, but I am getting a little stressed. One of the venues still hasn’t paid me my advance, which is very frustrating,” says the singer on typically honest form. “I have already budgeted for the set, but I can’t get anything started until the money comes in. Basically, I have three weeks left and people are dragging their heels.”

By the time she plays Harrogate International Festival, one venue which did apparently settle its invoice in good time, order will no doubt have been restored. However, for now all she can do is cross her fingers, though patience, she admits, is not one of her virtues.

In truth it never has been. She was first spotted playing in the pub band Paloma and the Penetrators by a scout for Epic Records and soon afterwards invited to play a showcase for the label bosses. Having worked as a magician’s assistant and sales girl for the lingerie firm Agent Provocateur after completing an MA in theatre directing, it was the kind of break she had longed for. However, annoyed by one of the executives who was about to decide her fate when he refused to stop texting, the meeting ended a little prematurely.

“I told him if he was going to have anything to do with my career, I’d rather sing in pubs for the rest of my life and stormed out.”

Hot-headed, perhaps, but she’s also not one to bear grudges. Nine months later Epic, which had been monitoring her progress on MySpace, came knocking again. This time the negotiations went a little more smoothly and towards the end of 2009 her debut album, Do You Want The Truth or Something Beautiful? was released.

While it failed to spawn any number one singles, the record went platinum in the UK, where it stayed in the charts for 10 months, and Faith’s quirky looks and soulful voice secured her appearances on the likes of Later with Jools Holland and a nomination for Best British Female at last year’s Brit awards.

Since then, things have gone a little quiet. The second album, first rumoured to be out last October, is still in the pipeline and this year, the headlines have been monopolised by Lady Gaga and Adele.

“The album’s not finished yet and I’m not sure when it will be. If I had my way it would be out tomorrow, but there are so many other people involved that nothing happens quickly.

“If you’re in a band in this business you can group together and make things happen or stand up for what you really believe in. When you’re on your own it’s much harder. I suppose you have to be hard nosed.

“I’m not afraid to say what I think, but I tend to back down too often.”

The 25-year-old stops short of accusing the record company of unreasonable behaviour, but she’s clearly not the type of artist who fits easily into an industry which demands quick returns.

“We all have to bend sometimes. Epic backed the release of the album’s title track which wasn’t an obvious single, but you definitely have the feeling that there’s less time to prove yourself or develop as an artist than you might have on an independent label. The Kings of Leon were on their third album before things really took off, but, you know, that’s just the way things are.”

Clearly conscious the “next big thing” tag could be pulled away at any minute, Paloma has not confined herself to singing. After a few small acting jobs on television, she made her film debut as Andrea in St Trinian’s and two years ago appeared in Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus. Neither got rave reviews, although the latter had to be reshot following the death of its star, Heath Ledger, during filming and Paloma says she learnt a lot from the experience of being on set.

“I’ve always made a conscious effort to be busy, I’m not good at sitting around idle. I would love to have a long-term career in music, but I know that might not happen so it’s best to keep yourself occupied with other things.

“Sometimes you do things which work and sometimes they don’t, but you just have to keep trying. If everyone says what you’re doing is great, well that’s nice, but the next day the tide could have turned the other way. It’s interesting to see how other people view your work, but you can’t let it be the be all and end all.”

In Gilliam, Paloma also found someone who shared her love of excess and unashamed theatricality.

“I think he’s amazing. He put a lot of money into that film and invested a lot into the set design. If you believe in something then you should give it your all. It’s the same with my shows, they cost a lot to put on, but it’s about pride.

“You know I watched some of the performances at Glastonbury this year and saw all these massively successful bands who don’t spend anywhere near as much on sets and costumes as I do. It may be why I never make much money, but I wouldn’t be happy any other way.”

Doing her own thing is what she does best. While to some, turning up at an awards ceremony wearing one lime green stocking, one red and an electric blue beret might be the sign of eccentricity, to Paloma, it’s just the kind of outfit she’d nip down to the shops in. Born in Hackney, her parents split up when she was a toddler, and Paloma derives much of her inspiration for both her look and her career from her mother.

“When I was growing up she always said, ‘Paloma you need to approach life with a sense of occasion’. If it was sunny she would say, ‘Come on, let’s get dressed up and go out and have some fun.’ Life has to be about a celebration of things you’ve got. It’s too short to waste doing anything else.”

Fully made-up and looking like a 1950s starlet, Paloma exudes self-confidence, but it’s not always been that way. At school she always felt something of an outsider and she has previously described her three years at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds as the worst period of her life.

“I loved living in Leeds, but it was a pretty terrible time,” she says. “I finished the course because I don’t give up on anything, I’m stubborn that way, but I didn’t fit in at all. It seems to me these schools are geared up to produce just one kind of dancer, who are physically incredible, but that’s it. It’s like being the paint for an artist, they mould you into something that can be used by someone else. I definitely felt a lack of creative control.

“A lot of the teachers didn’t like the fact I went against the grain. I guess I got used to be pushed back, but I would always come back again and that’s the way it’s always been.”

After appearing at Harrogate and a number of other festivals throughout the summer, Paloma will be back in front of the camera in the low budget horror film Little Miss Piggy.

It follows the usual format – young couple, deeply in love, drive out to remote location only for their romantic plans to be thrown into turmoil – however Paloma insists there is a twist.

“Horror films are normally incredibly sexist, all the women ever seem to do is run around and scream. This is going to be a little bit different. Things obviously go a little bit pear-shaped, but it’s my character that comes out fighting.”

Before she gets to try horror for size, she hopes the second album will be out, but whatever happens next Paloma is determined to make the most of her time in the spotlight. “I live life in the moment. When I used to sing in pubs I loved it because at the time it was the best and most exciting thing I had ever done. I find it quiet funny when you hear a new artist say, ‘You better watch out for me.’ That kind of self-confidence freaks me out.

“I would love for my next album to do better than the last. It’s so close I can almost touch it. I would love to have the freedom financially to put on even more spectacular shows and I would love to stop renting a flat and feel stable enough to have a family. There are some things I can control, some things I can’t, so the only thing I can do is keeping working hard.”

* Paloma Faith, Harrogate International Festival, July 14. 01423 502116, www.harrogate-festival.org.uk