0:01

Hello, I'm Fern Cotton, and this

0:03

is Happy Place, the space that

0:05

celebrates you just the way

0:07

you are. Today, I'm chatting

0:10

to Anastasia. When I was signed,

0:12

they wanted me to wear extensions, you know. I was

0:14

like, well, what's wrong with my hair? And then they

0:16

wanted me to wear all this makeup, and I was

0:19

like, oh, I guess I wasn't pretty. I

0:21

never wore makeup before. I only would put lipstick

0:23

on and put my glasses on, and what I

0:25

had on my head was hair. And

0:28

it was, you know, eight rows. Do-ing, do-ing,

0:30

do-ing. I'm out of love. Days were eight

0:32

rows of hair. And

0:35

I almost felt like I could not

0:37

leave or go out of a hotel

0:39

or go anywhere unless I looked like

0:41

her. It's terrible that now I'm

0:43

insecure about my hair. I never was insecure about

0:45

my hair before I got in the business. Okay,

0:47

you know how obsessed I am with the 90s

0:50

and early-noughties music, and Anastasia

0:52

is arguably one of the

0:54

biggest icons from that era.

0:57

I've met Anastasia a few times now. She certainly

0:59

came on Celebrity Juice and was just game for

1:02

all of it. And I think we all just

1:04

totally fell in love with her then. And she

1:06

is genuinely one of

1:08

the most warm, welcoming, funny, and

1:10

lovely guests that I've ever had

1:12

on the podcast. She

1:15

is now back with a brand new album

1:17

called Our Songs. It's a really cool concept.

1:19

It celebrates the music she fell in love

1:22

with while she was in Germany. It's 12

1:25

English-language interpretations of German

1:28

hits from 1980 to 2020. There

1:32

are powerful pop songs in there

1:34

and stadium-sized rock anthems too. Anastasia

1:37

and I met up in central

1:39

London a couple of weeks ago.

1:41

She just landed in the UK,

1:43

having had an absolute mare getting

1:45

hit. Anyone else, myself included, would

1:47

have been completely lethargic, but she

1:49

was so full of energy.

1:52

We bounced around so many different topics

1:54

in this chat. How the

1:56

music industry works, the pressure to

1:59

use filters. on the internet,

2:01

her double mastectomy, menopause,

2:03

oh and Elton John, he's in

2:05

there too. Sergeant

2:11

Sergeant and mrs. Smith, you're going to love

2:13

this house. Is that a tub in the kitchen? Is that a tub

2:15

in the kitchen. There's no field

2:17

manual for finding the right home. but when

2:19

you do, USAA homeowners insurance can

2:21

help protect it the right way.

2:23

restrictions, apply. Oh

2:27

I can't wait for this, here's the show. I'm

2:52

going to say, darling, oh my

2:54

god, I haven't seen you have

2:56

not aged. It's very offensive. Well,

2:59

you know, I mean, I've had a little help

3:01

from special people, but also

3:03

glasses, stronger tint, we got to do what we

3:06

have to do. These glasses are divine today. How

3:08

many pairs do you reckon you've got? Too many.

3:10

I mean, I can't count.

3:12

I mean, it's just rude to count because at

3:14

this point, the same with sleeping with people, you

3:16

just don't want to count. It's

3:20

irrelevant. Yeah, it's irrelevant. You know, why talk

3:22

about the past? It's a number smaller than

3:24

100 and bigger than 10. Yeah,

3:26

it's not enough for me, but

3:28

you know, it's too much for... I'm

3:33

starting on a good note. Good

3:35

morning. That's like my favourite Starbafall costume

3:37

ever. So

3:40

you recently posted a picture of you lying

3:42

on a heated floor. Seriously, jet lagged, where

3:44

are we at with the jet lag? We

3:46

are much better with the jet lag, but

3:48

I don't think I've ever been that jet

3:51

lagged. I had a really hard

3:53

time trying to get to London,

3:55

and there were cancellations and, you

3:58

know, where do I go sleep with cancellations? I

4:00

was in an Airbnb, checked out, then

4:02

I ended up sleeping in a baka

4:04

lounge chair. I

4:07

don't know what you call that, but like old man's

4:09

chair. Oh yeah. And

4:11

that wasn't great. And then I

4:14

didn't sleep on the actual plane

4:16

that finally got me to London

4:18

because I was so anxiety about the work I had

4:21

to do. Got to

4:23

London, no bags. Oh,

4:25

that is my worst nightmare. Like I'm an overpacker,

4:27

so I had three. There was

4:29

three chances for them to get one bag

4:32

on the plane and all three,

4:34

they didn't know where they were. And I was

4:36

like, okay, well, I'm really going to look crazy

4:40

this week. So they're going to

4:42

be like, God, she's just really just sort of

4:44

like dialed down her fast. Yeah, look at the

4:46

leather jacket. Did you have glasses in your bag?

4:49

Yes, I do carry the glasses in

4:51

the bag. Because, you know, like their

4:53

prescription and I'm not... You need

4:55

to see. Yeah, it would be nice. And

4:58

then I also, I carry the

5:00

hair in the bag. I keep it all real. Yeah.

5:03

I carry the hair in the bag. I carry the glasses.

5:05

I carry the jewelry. And I carry my

5:08

in-ears for singing. A few. But

5:10

other than that, I had nothing. Like I

5:12

had no shampoo. I had nothing. Has it

5:15

turned off? Yeah, it did.

5:17

I was very lucky because I, you

5:19

know, I then wonder who's trying on

5:21

my clothes. Like what's happening out there? And

5:23

I did have like this jacket from back

5:25

in back in the day. I was bringing

5:27

some stuff back that I was pulling out

5:29

of the closet because I'm in fashion now.

5:32

90s is happening. So I'm sure you're 20 years old.

5:35

Thank you. That's what I'm saying.

5:37

Like, I'm like, this is great. I don't need a

5:39

stylist for about two years. I'm

5:41

so excited. Yeah, I've

5:43

never been so fashionable. So

5:46

glad that you're here. Yeah,

5:48

it works out. And

5:51

hence the post was me

5:54

taking off the socks and realizing that the

5:56

floor in the bathroom was heated. And

5:59

my back was like oh I could use the massage and

6:01

I was like you know what I'm just

6:04

gonna lay here so that I can feel

6:06

the warmth on my back two

6:08

seconds later I must have continued. You

6:10

snoring? I was yeah I

6:13

don't snore and then apparently I do

6:16

so I really I didn't know

6:18

whether I should post it because then I didn't know

6:20

if I would my dating factor

6:23

would go really far down. No,

6:25

like a little... it's a

6:28

little per. Yeah, it's a little capers for those

6:30

of you that want to know. Yeah, it's kind

6:32

of sexy right? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, but

6:34

I'm so glad that you've had a little bit

6:36

of rest and I've got that stuff

6:38

going on. I've got a little bit of

6:41

stuff going on. I'm happy new music is

6:43

always good to feel inspired

6:45

by. It's

6:47

beautiful. Yeah. Great and it's the gift that

6:49

keeps on giving. I'm grateful

6:51

to still be working. I mean I

6:54

I didn't think this would be where

6:57

I am in life and that I

6:59

could have a section of

7:01

my life that it wants to keep

7:03

getting played and people want to

7:05

hear that. Yeah. You know they could care less

7:07

about new music to be honest with you my

7:09

fans but when it comes around and when it

7:11

happens it's always great because it makes a nice

7:14

concert, a couple extra new songs

7:16

but if I don't sing I'm out of love

7:18

or left outside alone. Oh heck no! Yeah

7:22

but nobody wants to go to a gig and not hear

7:24

the big favourite hit. I hate it

7:26

when you go to a gig and someone just

7:28

plays new stuff and you're like, I don't know

7:30

the words to this. Yeah, so I don't drizzle

7:32

in too much of the albums that are new

7:35

because they really do want the nostalgia. Yeah, it's

7:37

great to do a mix. I mean next year

7:39

it will be 25 years

7:42

since you released your first album. It's a

7:44

crazy thought. Crazy. It's a crazy thought. What

7:46

does that feel like to look back on

7:48

that two and a half decades having released

7:50

so much music and been through God so

7:53

much? Well I'm really I'm

7:55

proud of it. I'm also shocked

7:58

at the same time I don't... I don't feel like I've

8:00

had 25 years of a career yet. So,

8:06

and so I don't know what to do about,

8:10

how do you celebrate it? You just go, I

8:12

hope I still work. You know, like that's

8:15

what I go. I'm grateful for it and

8:17

I want, I don't know how

8:19

many more years I get to sing because

8:21

it's a gift. It's not something I can

8:23

promise to anyone that's gonna happen every

8:26

day or years to come. So I'm

8:29

grateful I can still do it. I'm grateful I can

8:31

still sing the songs that I love to sing. I

8:34

don't make them easy. No, I'm not

8:36

a sha-de writer. I

8:40

don't write simple notes. I

8:43

write from the lowest to the highest. You

8:45

know, it's a beautiful thing. And I

8:47

think having that gratitude is one

8:49

of the many reasons why you're still doing what you

8:51

do. Cause some people really do take

8:54

it for granted and quite sort of complacent about

8:56

their place in the music industry. And I guess

8:58

the thing, when you look at a

9:00

span of work like that 25 years and

9:03

you see how almost unrecognizable

9:05

the music industry is from when you

9:07

were recording at the start. Well, I

9:09

did not, I

9:12

didn't go with them and the

9:14

music. I'm not hip hop. I've never had

9:16

a rapper on my stuff. Like I've just

9:18

continued to stay in my lane

9:21

and I'm grateful that people still wanna hear

9:23

just music without all the rest of it

9:26

that is now it's, you know, Latin and

9:29

all of this is, I love it, but it's not

9:31

really, I don't feel I need to

9:33

go there to

9:36

change what is already working for

9:38

me. You know, my sprock

9:40

soul pop rock vibe is going and

9:43

working for me. Yeah. And also, I

9:45

guess how you go about communicating an

9:47

album and what you're doing, that's changed.

9:49

Again, I know. Nicely and we've got

9:52

TikTok and a whole other host of things that

9:54

did not exist back in the day. No. How

9:56

do you feel about those changes in the industry?

9:59

I... I think that

10:01

I feel sad for the newer

10:04

generation because there is

10:06

something that there is just

10:08

they're never going to know what

10:11

music ultimately was like, what it

10:13

was like to wait for the

10:16

album to come out, the CD,

10:18

the literal physical

10:21

copy and be outside the

10:23

store and then they

10:25

sold out and you're like, when

10:27

are you getting the next shipment? They don't know

10:29

what that means and there's

10:32

a buzz to what that is and

10:34

a beautiful quality that I'm grateful I

10:36

came out when that still happened and

10:39

I was able to experience it not only

10:41

as a person that was

10:43

a fan of music but then the person

10:45

that had fans. It

10:47

was quite a beautiful thing to watch in real

10:49

time but I do

10:52

believe we can't control what's going

10:54

on and I

10:56

guess that's, I still feel

10:58

weird when I'm like, go stream it

11:00

and beam it. It's

11:03

just weird to advertise

11:05

myself and that's strange.

11:09

I'm used to the record company and the

11:11

publishing, just all they do what they do

11:13

and I just, hey, hey, hey. Do you

11:15

feel pressure with all of that with

11:17

how much more focused there is on

11:19

what you can do, how you can

11:22

drive your social media, etc. Because I

11:24

feel like I'm not, it's

11:26

a lot of work. There's

11:28

editing stuff that I am

11:30

not talented at. So

11:33

it helps to have somebody that can help

11:35

you edit but I do like to run

11:37

my page. I do like to be fully

11:39

involved in what I'm doing and I don't

11:42

want just a boring

11:45

page because that's not who I am anyway. No, it's

11:47

very you. I liked the video the other day where

11:49

you were trying to get to sleep but you'd watch

11:52

the crime drama. I did. I was

11:54

like, great. I'm in my Christmas

11:56

PJs. I was like, oh my God, just

11:58

sort of just natural me. But

12:00

yes, I'm trying to show more of the

12:02

natural me like me on the floor. Yeah.

12:04

Me in the bed in Christmas jammies. And

12:06

then me like this. Yeah,

12:08

being a gorgeous glamour. So out of the

12:11

bed. You can be at all. I can.

12:13

Well, I I pay for it. I love

12:15

that. I love that. Many

12:17

of us will not remember a time

12:19

before Anastasia being about, you know, you've

12:21

always been there doing your thing. But

12:24

let's go right, right back for people

12:26

that don't perhaps know your backstory and

12:28

how you got to where you are

12:30

today and everything that's informed who Anastasia

12:32

is. So you're born in Chicago. Yes.

12:35

You have a brother and a sister

12:37

that you're brought up with. Older sister,

12:40

younger brother. Your dad left quite soon.

12:42

Yeah, it was, you know, after the

12:44

after my brother, it was

12:46

probably Kupuz before my brother. But, you know,

12:49

it was not a marriage to last. So

12:52

they were divorced and and it was

12:54

just us three. And my mom most of the

12:56

time and we'd go visit dad. But it

12:58

was, you know, normal,

13:01

normal person, broken family. Yeah. And not

13:03

you say it's made you and your

13:05

sister to take any clothes. I think

13:07

it really did. At the

13:09

beginning, I have to say that she did kind of

13:11

feel like she had a daughter because, you know, when

13:13

she's the oldest, she has to look after us to.

13:16

My mom's sort of like, you know, the

13:18

mother always looks at the oldest to to

13:21

help the youngers. So when

13:23

we got older, we became like super

13:25

sister wives. You know, we're like, yeah.

13:28

And she's great. We work

13:30

together and it's wonderful. So

13:33

she's on your team. Yeah,

13:35

yeah. She's my sister. Oh,

13:38

heaven. But she's everything. She does

13:40

all of it. When I say,

13:42

you know, I sent an

13:44

email, I said, well, but did I send

13:46

that email? No, she sent the email. Well,

13:50

we called. No, she called. I

13:52

love that. I think it's probably also again,

13:54

one of the reasons why you've stayed. I'm

13:56

going to use some very base language here.

13:59

Normal. Ah. Do you know what I mean? You

14:01

haven't to me as an outsider and a

14:04

fan gone into that world

14:06

of absolute bullshit that you can get dragged

14:08

into in the music industry. But you haven't

14:10

either. No, I wish you. No, and I

14:12

really do relate a lot to seeing wonderful

14:18

people stay humble

14:20

and real in who they are.

14:22

And even though we've discovered

14:24

ourselves throughout the years, you know, it's not like we

14:26

were who we were 25 years ago today,

14:31

but there is a grounding that we still

14:34

are and a learning

14:36

curve that we learned. And that's

14:38

part of the way life goes.

14:41

And to me, my life is now hashtag

14:43

never dull. Cause it's like, you

14:45

know, does plan A work? Probably not,

14:48

you know, like C and

14:50

D, who knows if it's on Z, I'm

14:52

just go with the flow, you know, and

14:54

laughing at the things that don't work more

14:56

than anything. I'm like, of course my flight

14:59

has gone slow. You know, like instead

15:01

of like why? And yelling at the

15:03

desk, I'm like, really people? Yeah,

15:07

but that's how you survive it, isn't

15:09

it? I think you survive life though.

15:11

You can't dwell in it. You can

15:13

feel it. I think everyone has

15:15

human, they're

15:18

human and they feel when something is

15:20

sad, they feel when they're not, when

15:22

something's not good, but

15:24

it all is about how you get through it.

15:27

You have to get through it. And if you don't, you're

15:29

paralyzed. You continue to backslide.

15:32

You continue to repeat the same

15:34

things. You really have to look

15:36

into what it is you keep doing wrong

15:38

or what it is you keep not getting

15:42

if you repeat the same things in

15:44

life. And I had to learn

15:47

that in my life when it came to relationships as

15:49

well, where you stop

15:51

saying, you know, I'm the victim and I'd be

15:53

like, well, I'm pointing a finger at you, but

15:55

oh my God, I have three pointing back at

15:57

me. And I'm like, I think I

15:59

need to. That's why I keep doing

16:01

that. I know. To

16:03

myself, you know, humbling stuff, humbling

16:05

stuff. But it also gives you

16:08

resilience, it gives you patience. I

16:10

mean, you started in terms of

16:12

music industry types late. You were

16:14

in your 30s. That's

16:16

why it really is trippy to think 25 years,

16:19

because I already started late. So

16:21

here I am, you know, most

16:24

people have, you know, their 20s

16:26

going into their

16:28

plethora of, like, body of

16:30

work. Mariah has that,

16:32

JLo has that, and I was

16:35

just 10 years behind, you know? But

16:37

you've observed you very well, because often

16:40

when it's teenagers in the spotlight, or

16:42

people even in their young 20s, who

16:44

have thrown this attention, this fame, this

16:46

power. I can't imagine what it would

16:49

have been like. Because I was already

16:51

naive at 30, like,

16:55

when I was fired from my job at

16:57

29. Is this

16:59

when you were a beauty salon? Yeah,

17:01

thank God it wasn't the beauty salon,

17:04

it was the facial, and you know,

17:06

like, the facial place, with Jar Jekk

17:08

Klinger, I'll say your name. You

17:11

know, you have to be really quiet.

17:15

Was your process lovely? Great. You

17:17

look glowy. You know, and I was like,

17:19

oh my God, you're amazing. And that's just,

17:21

oh, wow, you look so young. You know,

17:23

like, it was not happening. I was way

17:26

loud. Way loud. Fired from being

17:28

loud? Oh, I totally did. And then I got a

17:30

record deal. So

17:32

I was collecting unemployment check, got

17:34

the TV gig, was on

17:36

TV, then everybody wanted to sign me. So

17:39

it was very rando. So not expected

17:42

to work out at all, because I didn't

17:44

sound like anyone, look like anyone. Everybody

17:47

wanted to have me wear glasses, you

17:49

know, they're just like, why are you wearing sunglasses?

17:51

I was like, it's a tint. Yeah,

17:53

I was like, I dare you to put them on,

17:55

you know, I would always be like, and they're like,

17:57

oh my God, such a strong description. A

18:00

grin when you start out and I'm

18:02

thinking especially as a female, it's let's

18:04

Change Alert What fox can we put

18:07

you in on? You were and still

18:09

are on boxall Will and I to

18:11

be honest with you when I was

18:13

really trying in the twenties to think

18:16

that I can do this business. And.

18:18

Would ask all those questions as like both I'm

18:21

I'm a sinner. Like. Why you? what?

18:23

Category Am I and I'm in the singer

18:25

category of like. I really understand what any

18:28

of that means. Why do I have to

18:30

think so deeply about. All. The

18:32

think it like I didn't realize that. You

18:35

could just be an artist. So.

18:38

All of those things started to

18:40

get me to think that I'm

18:42

not. Part. Of this business because

18:44

I don't have a girly way of

18:46

dressing and I do wear glasses and.

18:49

I. Just was a little tougher,

18:51

more on the pink side,

18:54

you know which? I'm very

18:56

glad she. Added stuck

18:58

to her own guns and she does her

19:00

music the way she wants to do or

19:02

me that even though she would they bent

19:04

her to be like our my mom make

19:07

you urban and to like know I'm going

19:09

to push back on that love that you

19:11

know that's inspiring for people that. Really

19:13

don't want to follow that the mold and

19:15

feel that they're not sitting in because they're

19:18

following the mold. So where does that? Dot.

19:20

The dry that termination come from. To

19:23

say I'm going to it my way.

19:25

Is that something you learned in Charles?

19:27

Heard it from your mom mom. Probably.

19:30

Seeing the eternal struggle of a

19:33

single mom you know I it.

19:35

Wouldn't surprise me that that

19:37

was sort of. My.

19:40

Survival. Technique is.

19:43

I'm. Used to it not working out or

19:45

I'm used to this. so let's figure out

19:48

another way of started. Very young my mom

19:50

said when I was. When.

19:52

My. Sister. Wouldn't.

19:54

Get a doll and if I decided to play

19:57

with it and broke it, it became my doll.

20:00

And he would always have like one arm

20:02

or the head would be like mirror or

20:04

I cut the hair. You know that glorious

20:07

something we do we think we're so smart

20:09

and so that would be my new doll

20:11

and side have all these not a lot

20:13

adults but some dolls. So. I'd have

20:16

to play hospital because they they would

20:18

be broken be asked be barbie. Yeah

20:20

so I was like ah hospital, the

20:22

doctors and then randomly I'm like sick

20:24

my whole life. So you know it's

20:26

a very interesting story but I am.

20:28

I found the positive in. Here's. Your

20:30

broken down? I'm like okay, I'll play with

20:33

them anyway. she's fine. You know, discuss she

20:35

broke and doesn't mean she can't talk to

20:37

the other girls. even their heads like fallen

20:39

off? Yeah, I'm yeah. Very interesting. That.

20:43

When. My mom said, you just you know it was

20:45

very. Ironic. That he

20:47

didn't see that as a punishment. I.

20:50

Was like oh okay, sorry

20:52

shine then I'm like. Really

20:55

makes you extremely flexible entirely. I was I

20:58

am with my eyes that that was sort

21:00

of. My my inner

21:02

choice with. This. Ability.

21:05

To find the positive in. And.

21:07

Not so great situation. So when you

21:09

get that break so you end up

21:11

on nice this Mtv say the carts

21:14

Ryan you've got lots of focus on

21:16

eve attention. You've got people like Elton

21:18

John going. Who is this person? They're

21:20

amazing. Raise the alarm bells and that's

21:22

the craziest part. Of probably. At.

21:25

Anything that has happened to

21:27

me in my life was.

21:30

As I was young, I'd listen to his

21:32

records because they were in the house. Barbra

21:34

Streisand, Elton John. I would stare at the

21:36

album's I would put them on I'm. And.

21:40

He was so. I

21:42

think instrumental to. When.

21:45

My mom said I had to wear glasses

21:47

and be wearing glasses at six years old.

21:49

She said I did. I

21:51

was sulfites. yeah I ah now have a

21:54

wide didn't expect subsisted expect that answer from

21:56

Yale because not many girls one of but

21:58

the classes on and I. asked her for

22:00

the windshield wiper one. And she

22:02

was like, oh god, now we're in trouble. You know,

22:04

this one. So yeah, that

22:07

was quite the thing. And

22:10

he reviewed my record. That was the part

22:12

that just tripped me out. I was like,

22:14

he's reviewing records?

22:17

I was like, he's EJ. Like

22:19

why is he like a journalist? He's

22:21

obsessed with me and EJ. Right.

22:24

That was so beautiful to

22:26

have the first full circle

22:29

moment to me, someone

22:31

like him, talking about

22:33

my album so positively and with

22:35

such passion and then

22:37

deciding to say, yeah, let me bring you

22:39

on stage with me and just sing a

22:42

little song, you know, for Madison Square

22:44

Garden. I'm like, it

22:47

just it still just plays. I'm so glad

22:49

it was recorded. That's

22:51

just visually and on

22:54

the record because I see him in his

22:57

face and my face and I remember it

22:59

like it's yesterday and especially his kiss to

23:02

my belly button after I sang

23:05

the song. He's like Anastasia because

23:08

that's how he says my name

23:10

and I refuse to ever correct

23:12

it because it's on Anastasia. And

23:16

then literally went down

23:18

and kissed my belly button. I was like, oh

23:20

my God, wait, was I supposed to kiss his

23:22

hand? And I'm serious. The camera like,

23:24

did that just happen? Did

23:28

you see that? And then I go off and

23:30

I scream backstage like I'm like, I

23:33

can't believe that, you know, I did it.

23:35

I sang with him. This is this

23:37

is who I am for a second. You know,

23:40

it's trippy. It's such a

23:42

beautiful thing when you see established

23:44

artists really support and elevate new

23:46

talent coming through. Have you

23:48

felt the need to pay it forward? I

23:50

mean, I do it all the time and

23:53

I can't half the time remember

23:55

and I love Instagram for that to be

23:57

honest. I fly down to people. And

24:01

they're just like what yeah because

24:03

there's so much Art

24:05

out there and there's so many talented people that

24:08

you can't keep up with them And I'm like

24:10

who's this Zuki you know I like there's so

24:12

many different names and and until you

24:14

hear their challenge or see what They're doing them.

24:16

I just praise I'm like just keep

24:19

it up. This is amazing your work is

24:21

great You know nice like

24:23

and they're like oh my

24:25

you know there is usually big letters. Oh

24:27

my god You're then they

24:29

tell me their story and sometimes I leave

24:31

them a voice message I'm like what and

24:33

I did that with Anne Marie, and she's

24:36

no way is talking about she's like oh

24:38

my god I want to use it as

24:40

my ringtone It was

24:42

just like hey Like

24:44

imitated me it was the cutest thing that

24:46

I was like you're amazing I love you

24:48

so much, but I'm a proper and she's

24:50

just like you just left me a voice

24:52

message. That's crazy The best

24:55

time of course it is and it's so

24:57

lovely to shine a light on people doing

24:59

brilliant things Yeah, so at this point your

25:01

career gets going you're recording music You're living

25:03

this thing that you dreamed of for ages,

25:06

then you get sick right so you get

25:08

diagnosed with breast cancer Have

25:11

you felt a lump what had taken you

25:13

to the doctor's that's the craziest part is

25:15

no no lump no nothing I wanted

25:18

a breast reduction and I

25:20

was quite full

25:23

figured up there and it bothered me because

25:25

I was small and I would always feel

25:27

like that was a Distraction

25:30

as a singer you know I was

25:32

like listen to the voice now You

25:35

know I like point in the wrong direction and

25:37

my back hurt and my mom had had

25:39

one so I just felt like you know

25:42

it's just gonna feel better and I

25:45

went in found a wonderful doctor went

25:47

in and he just said I

25:51

just want to have you do a few of

25:53

these things and then get a mammogram and I

25:55

was like What

25:57

a mammogram is I

25:59

just always assumes that was when you're

26:01

older, you know, and you're like, well,

26:03

you know, you're quite dense,

26:06

large, whatever breath, I want to make sure that,

26:08

you know, it's all, he said,

26:10

it's all clean. And I'll say, I'm

26:12

clean. I mean, I'm pristine. I remember

26:14

totally sounding so stupid. And

26:17

then went

26:19

to go and get the mammogram. And,

26:22

and it was very different. The,

26:25

like, right after

26:27

the first scan, took

26:30

a minute. And then they were like, we're just going to

26:32

take one more scan. And I was like, one,

26:37

then an ultrasound. And I was just, I

26:40

have cancer. I just knew it, because

26:43

I could feel it in their spirits

26:45

that they're like, you

26:47

know, like, this is not, do

26:49

you need water? I was like, Oh,

26:51

God, you know, they're guilt, you know.

26:53

And so the next day I went

26:57

into the doctor, checking

26:59

the oncology. And he's like, Yeah, it is,

27:01

it's cancer. And I was just like, what?

27:04

So then they take the biopsy. And

27:07

when they take the biopsy, I

27:09

don't know what stage I'm in. You know,

27:11

I don't know what it's

27:13

going to be. And I'm

27:16

kind of like, wow,

27:18

I didn't think I was going to die

27:20

from cancer. I actually

27:23

was like, I'm gonna go with planes going

27:25

to go down, or I'm gonna like, you

27:27

know, die in a, in

27:29

a chair with a cigarette, you know, like, I'm

27:31

going to do something really great. And

27:34

I just didn't,

27:36

I didn't think that was the way I,

27:39

you know, after all this cancer.

27:44

And then it leaked before I

27:46

even kind of knew what

27:48

stage I was in. So it was

27:50

when I was waiting for the results.

27:55

Probably I went in as Anastasia,

27:57

I didn't think I needed to have a pseudonym.

28:00

So I actually

28:04

gave myself away in the hospital and

28:07

there was the world

28:09

news just saying, would you like to make a comment? And

28:11

I was like, is this,

28:14

I'd never made a comment

28:16

like that. Or I didn't think

28:19

that was real. So the, you

28:21

know, Anastasia's press people said that she said,

28:23

you know, like, I was like, wait a

28:25

minute, I've never even done that. I don't

28:27

remember what I had said, but it was

28:29

just kind of like, maybe

28:32

it was helped. I don't know that I even.

28:34

But how terrible that it was. It was not.

28:36

Yeah, it was not cool because I didn't

28:40

even have a time to tell anyone.

28:42

No. And Elton called right away and

28:44

Sharon called right away and they're like, is this true? And

28:46

I was like, I it's true. And I don't know what

28:48

I'm, I don't know what to do.

28:50

And they're like, long cutter and we got you. Here's

28:53

this, here's that. And I just

28:55

felt so embraced by everyone. But

28:57

I have to say when I got the diagnosis,

29:00

that I was, you know, pretty much

29:02

not even stage one. So

29:05

it, it was super

29:08

early in the

29:10

way that radiation and I was too

29:13

young to actually need

29:15

to do, I didn't need to do the chemo, but

29:17

I also didn't have to take too young to take

29:19

the drugs. So they just

29:21

blasted me with radiation. But

29:24

in that brief moment when the good

29:27

news came, I had

29:29

already convinced myself that I have the

29:32

best wig makers. I have

29:34

the money now I can

29:36

do this. And

29:38

then I get the news that I don't have to

29:40

do it. And somebody else is not going to have

29:42

the money and it's going to get the other news

29:44

and then a shout

29:46

of guilt for me that

29:49

I'm like, why did I get the good news? Like

29:51

that's now I'm guilty. And I just

29:53

felt so much more of

29:56

a purpose to help others because

29:58

I was like, no way. This is, first of

30:00

all, I didn't even know the stats were the stats,

30:02

I didn't even know that 80%, 70%

30:06

of women that get cancer, it's

30:09

not hereditary, ladies. It's not hereditary.

30:12

And I think that number freaked

30:14

me out, because I'm like, why

30:16

don't you discuss that? Why

30:18

don't doctors discuss it? And

30:21

they say that, you know, we can't

30:23

tell you what it is that

30:25

gave you that particular cancer, which is

30:28

not hereditary cancer. It's

30:30

food, it's diet, it's

30:32

stress, it's air, it's

30:34

everything. But they

30:36

can't tell you to do nothing. So

30:39

they just will, they can only do

30:41

what doctors do, which is go on

30:43

science. And so I

30:45

am not a doctor, I go

30:47

on stasia, and I go

30:50

loud, and I go direct. And

30:52

I said, they gave the wrong girl cancer, is

30:54

what I just think. I was like, you thought

30:56

cancer was gonna be a secret, but

30:59

it's not, I got you. So I

31:01

just used it differently. And

31:03

I used the pedestal as a way

31:05

to inspire women not

31:08

to be scared or to be, yeah, it's

31:11

frightening. I'm not even gonna say that any

31:13

of it, and the second time cancer was

31:15

even more frightening because that was taking

31:18

the journey to end all

31:21

breast cancer in my life. But

31:24

you really have to do your

31:26

best to be your

31:28

own advocate in every part of your life,

31:31

including your health. And I know that it's

31:33

scary, and I know you don't wanna hear

31:35

diabetes or whatever it is that

31:37

life has to offer, but if you don't hear

31:39

it, you're worse for it if you don't

31:41

try to get it early, no

31:44

matter what. Relationship,

31:46

work, all of it. Don't drag

31:48

it out and make it worse

31:50

for yourself. But

31:52

this is me wiser. I

31:55

didn't do any of this when I was younger.

31:57

So I do appreciate. that

32:00

I wrote really great songs about things

32:03

that I didn't quite understand till

32:05

now. I'm like, oh,

32:08

is that what I meant to say? Yeah,

32:10

I never really listened to my songs in a way of

32:12

learning them. Yeah, they

32:14

totally have a new meaning. I mean,

32:16

after having it the second time, which

32:18

was never 10 years to the month.

32:22

I don't know about the date. I didn't know the date,

32:24

but I was like, really? It was January

32:27

2003, and it was January 2013. And

32:31

I was like, this has to be a joke. Now

32:33

during that 10 year, I said to myself if

32:35

I got it, and I was

32:38

blessed enough to get it early to

32:40

the point that I could control the

32:42

narrative, getting rid of

32:44

them. Yeah, so you had a double mastectomy, radical, absolutely no

32:47

nipples, like that kind of radical, not

32:54

trying to have one percentage of anything. And

32:59

because I've had Crohn's disease

33:01

prior, they're trying

33:04

to find a muscle to use because

33:06

I've also been irradiated. So the pec

33:08

muscle is not what it used to

33:10

be, and they can't put it on

33:12

top of an implant. So many different

33:14

variables. So my double mastectomy

33:16

was so radical. So

33:19

on my back, I have these huge scars because

33:22

they had to take my

33:24

lats and put them as the hammock

33:26

that holds the new

33:29

bionic booby. And

33:33

so the fascinating part

33:35

is for about four years, every

33:38

time I yawned, cough did anything.

33:43

It was not a good luck. It was like, I was

33:45

like, ha ha ha. Oh,

33:47

they like moving. Right. Because when

33:49

you use your back, it's like a current

33:51

muscle that's always working. But here it feels

33:54

very different because on your back, you're like,

33:56

no big deal. You'll yawn. It

33:58

reacts like a normal muscle. It's

34:00

like, no. I

34:02

was like, had I known, I was

34:04

going and it like, I was like, you know,

34:06

it was crazy. Wow. But I

34:09

got the nerve cut eventually because

34:11

I just couldn't. I was like, I can't

34:13

live with, if the

34:15

muscle doesn't react the same way, I

34:17

understand all of the visuals are

34:20

what you tried to do for me. I

34:22

appreciate, but I

34:24

wanna swim. Like this. Oh,

34:27

wow then. I didn't go to try to do

34:29

anything that's like using, it would do the opposite.

34:32

Oh, wow. It was kind of a party trick

34:34

for my friends. I bet it was. But

34:37

it really became, I was so aware it

34:39

all the time. And I

34:41

didn't want that to be a reminder anymore. No.

34:44

Well, you wanna move on to the

34:46

new self-realize. But I was held to

34:48

be, so mine were like, you know.

34:50

Yeah. My lats were ready to party. They

34:52

were latsing up. How

34:55

do you move on from health

34:58

situations like that and stay positively minded?

35:00

Because I'm sure there'll be many people

35:02

listening to this out there who have

35:05

been through. It might not be a

35:07

health situation, but something that really floored

35:09

them. Something that felt huge. And

35:13

it can be very difficult to move on

35:15

and feel optimistic and positive. Okay, so I

35:18

hate feeling that way more than anything

35:21

else. So

35:23

my goal is to

35:26

figure out how not to feel that

35:28

way. And so constantly as things come

35:30

my way that's yucky, I

35:33

allow it to be there, understand, validate

35:35

it. You gotta validate your reality,

35:37

but then go, ah, but no, no, no. You

35:41

go through your stuff. It's

35:44

gonna come back. You're gonna have hicks and roads.

35:47

And the more you

35:49

continue swimming, you then

35:52

realize that each situation becomes a

35:54

wee bit easier. And

35:57

as long as you're working on you. and

36:00

the people you have around you you

36:02

realize are really good supporters of being

36:04

a better you. That

36:07

in itself is almost a full

36:09

circle of being able to have

36:11

a great recipe to continue forging

36:13

through all the mire. Lockdown

36:16

didn't freak me out. I

36:18

like my own company. I think

36:20

I'm quite exciting alone. But

36:22

people were just trash. They were messed up.

36:25

And I was like, yo, I've never seen so

36:27

much good television. I never knew about 90 day

36:29

fiance. I'm

36:31

excited. Well, it's crime drama. Yeah, I never

36:34

got to see anything before because I was

36:36

working all the time. So I, you

36:38

know, but did you have a certain amount of

36:40

anxiety that you were left with? I'm

36:43

I'm a very anxiety person. I

36:45

have a lot of anxiety. Interesting.

36:48

I have talked myself

36:50

down all the time. My voice in my

36:52

head is always not necessarily the voice you

36:54

want to hear. It's the

36:56

analytical voice. My friends sometimes

36:59

say anal stasia. What a name.

37:02

A little anal about that. Don't

37:04

worry too much about that. You

37:07

know, but it's interesting that you can

37:09

be an anxious person who is very

37:11

optimistic because normally that can tip in.

37:13

Well, because my brain is in that

37:16

reality versus how

37:18

you really feel. But then you got

37:21

to move on. Like you can't you can't

37:23

do both of them at the same time. You

37:25

either stay still in that craziness

37:29

or you uncomfortably move

37:31

on. And eventually it's not uncomfortable

37:33

anymore. It just but it's like

37:36

a yearly struggle. It's

37:38

become so much easier. But it

37:40

was like if if

37:42

anyone heard what my brain was like 25 years

37:45

ago or 30 years ago, I

37:48

used to call myself Miss Piggy because

37:51

I didn't think I was pretty. I didn't think

37:53

I was attractive or feminine.

37:56

So I you know, just

37:58

was not very nice to myself. in

38:00

my head but I always wanted to

38:02

make that

38:04

kind of person and positive but if

38:07

it was about me I was

38:09

really not nice to myself so I

38:12

try to not use

38:14

that much language in my head as

38:16

much but I still it's

38:19

hard I think we very hard horrible

38:21

women to voice yeah I think women

38:23

too it's just you know it's hard

38:25

not to compare it's hard not to

38:27

feel stressed about getting older and

38:29

going okay well yeah I used

38:31

a lot of Botox but I can

38:33

raise my eyebrows crazy because I'm yeah

38:35

you know I'm like so I'm

38:37

pretty okay about having a permanent frown but

38:41

you know being honest with saying

38:43

it and embracing life and

38:46

hormones girl yeah I

38:48

menopause was rugged the last

38:50

few years yeah don't want to talk about

38:52

that but girl I thought I had

38:54

a brain tumor I thought I

38:57

like I had just gotten two new discs

38:59

a few years ago I was like my disc slept

39:02

I was like something's wrong on

39:04

me I have migraines I I

39:07

thought I was having early dementia like I

39:09

was diagnosing myself you know yeah I'm so

39:11

sick all the time I'm a great doctor

39:13

that was the worst the fact that

39:15

I was diagnosing myself I should have

39:17

just checked my numbers but we know

39:19

nothing about hormones and we're not necessarily

39:21

told anything about them and they until

39:23

in here so much right how we're

39:25

feeling oh and it was so helps

39:27

and it so helps I'm doing you

39:29

know the pellets and I'm doing

39:32

all the good hormones

39:34

shall we say but I

39:36

really do feel that that it's

39:38

okay to start at any time yeah

39:40

I don't want women to think early

39:43

is not good and that you're not

39:45

a woman because you're starting early it

39:47

just you're helping your brain you're feeding

39:49

your brain yeah you're feeding your spirit

39:51

because it's the all the

39:53

nutrients is being you know depleted so

39:56

really it's kind of like vitamins

39:58

for your hormones but I don't think

40:00

enough people positively think

40:02

that dealing with

40:04

menopause is a like,

40:07

yeah, yeah, I

40:10

was like, I thought a hot flash was

40:12

hilarious. I was because you're just sitting there.

40:14

And you're like, my upper lip

40:16

is sweating. Are you hot? Is it? Did you

40:18

turn down the air conditioning? And

40:20

I kind of thought that that

40:22

was fun, to be honest, but

40:25

I didn't really realise that I

40:27

had gone through menopause within like

40:29

two years. I was peri pre

40:31

and then like, during

40:33

the pandemic, after the pandemic, it was like,

40:35

I was gone. Yeah, you know, like

40:38

a journey. Yeah, this,

40:41

this is like, on my

40:43

mind, a lot. My mum went through the

40:45

menopause at 42, which I am now. Ah,

40:48

okay. There's little things where I think that's

40:51

probably right. Something to do with that. Yeah,

40:53

probably make some moves to deal with it.

40:55

But I think a lot of us just

40:57

go finger in it. If you

40:59

do something, it's not going to

41:02

change anything. It's just

41:04

going to make you feel better.

41:06

Yeah, exactly. And it's not a

41:08

drug. They're really, really good bioidenticals

41:10

that are out there. Bioidenticals are

41:12

the jam. And trust me, I'm

41:14

a cancer survivor. And don't

41:16

get freaked out. A lot of that is

41:18

yes, is the way to go. And

41:21

I think that you get with

41:23

a good hormone doctor and a

41:25

gynecologist that really understands how to work

41:27

with the natural. And you can start

41:29

as early as you want. I mean,

41:31

this is challenge yourself that all swimming

41:34

have to go free, but men are

41:36

doing it on the real how many

41:38

men are in the office

41:40

when I'm in the office to get my pellet.

41:43

No, don't sleep on it. Don't

41:45

snooze on it. Men can do it too.

41:47

They have their own dip. They have their

41:49

own manopause that they don't want to talk

41:51

about. But truthfully, I think it's good to

41:54

let people know that it's not

41:57

the negative that people talk about. If you wait.

42:00

too long it's negative and I waited too

42:02

long. I got to the point that

42:05

I was every month or every

42:07

two months I would have this

42:09

migraine that would feel behind my eyes,

42:11

I couldn't deal with light and

42:14

then I would throw up for

42:17

almost a whole day and have a hangover for

42:19

two days. I was just

42:21

kind of like sinuses are terrible so I

42:23

diagnosed myself with sinus stuff. So I was

42:26

like I have sinus sinus. Yeah, oh really?

42:28

Well, a doctor hasn't told me but I

42:30

have sinusitis and then found

42:32

out I was zero last year and

42:34

I was like oh God, all

42:37

right, I guess I don't have a brain tumor, okay.

42:39

So just give me

42:41

stuff, that's great. And I

42:43

feel amazing, it has changed.

42:46

I feel like I have so much more

42:48

energy, my

42:51

brain is functioning better and

42:54

we're all tired as we're doing a lot

42:56

of different things but I think it doesn't

42:58

help when your own body is drained. Not

43:01

just tired but your own body is draining

43:03

from your own body. Yeah, it's working very,

43:06

very hard. I think these are the sorts

43:08

of positive conversations we can have about aging

43:10

in general. I am so bored

43:13

of like even when I was

43:15

researching today and looking into all

43:17

avenues of Anastasia's world and looking

43:20

at your backstory and interviews, the

43:22

amount of people that ask you

43:24

about aging as a woman is

43:26

tedious and it's not the same

43:28

for men. You don't ask Leo

43:31

DiCaprio, how's aging it? How's

43:34

your crow feet doing? How your crow feet, Leo?

43:36

What's going on with them? We

43:38

don't hear it, there's such an obsession

43:40

about it and especially for someone like

43:42

yourself who's in the public eye, who's

43:44

in an industry where youth

43:46

is everything, it's like who's the youngest,

43:48

youngest musician out there? Well I mean and

43:50

now it's really with all the filters.

43:53

It's really stressy and I will say,

43:55

some of them are cute

43:57

and then I'll watch them. I

44:00

want to do a post and I'll

44:02

not realize I'm on one that's ridiculous

44:04

and I'll just talk into it like,

44:06

oh god, that's just sorry everyone. I

44:09

don't know why my eyelash is over here.

44:12

It's just, I find them fun

44:15

but people are using them as

44:17

their real life path and

44:19

of course that's unattainable.

44:22

You can't have that

44:24

be your timeline. That's not who you

44:26

are. Before the

44:28

filters it was touching up all the pictures that

44:30

you take and making your legs skinnier and making

44:33

you taller and all of that kind of thing

44:35

where, I have freckles honey,

44:37

I don't airbrush them off. What are you going

44:39

to do when I have to be in front

44:41

of somebody's face? I'll be like, hmm. I

44:44

never really allowed them to do

44:46

too much which is why

44:48

when people see me now they're like, you

44:50

look the same. I'm like, well, I would

44:52

have made myself look ridiculous and then you'd

44:55

be like, hmm. It's

44:57

a strange homogenized human that's

44:59

being created by algorithms. What

45:01

we're so used to seeing.

45:03

Yeah. A face that

45:05

looks a certain way rather than everyone's

45:07

delightful, unique, gorgeous look. Yeah, I know.

45:09

It really is interesting that you start

45:12

seeing who takes the bait and who

45:14

doesn't and it's all

45:17

good. Anyone can do

45:19

whatever they want to themselves in any

45:22

way, shape or form. I'm

45:24

not here to judge but I do feel

45:26

that the pressure that

45:28

has come on the newer generation

45:30

is this is the only way to

45:32

look. What you're doing when you're

45:34

doing that, it's not just a haircut. It's

45:37

not the trendy haircut or the trendy pant. Nope.

45:41

It's like when you laser your situation down there

45:43

and then you go, oh, the muff is back

45:45

and you're like, can't get it. Yeah.

45:49

Make that commitment, girl. Yeah, you

45:51

can't. You

45:53

know, put an artificial one on there. And

45:55

more thrust it. Like you're saying, it's obviously it's

45:57

anyone's choice to do whatever you want. When it's

45:59

coming. from an outside pressure and

46:02

that's informing what you do and actually

46:04

informing how confident you are to just

46:06

turn up as you. Right, but it's

46:08

also like that whole act there is

46:10

that everyone looks like the

46:13

same person. So if you don't look like

46:16

that, you're not attractive. And

46:19

I definitely don't swallow that at

46:22

all because I've never been someone

46:25

that was so gorgeous and

46:27

on the magazines and had that pressure

46:29

personally. So I didn't ever feel like,

46:32

oh my god, I'm so attractive,

46:34

I need to stay attractive. So

46:36

that wasn't my thing, but I will

46:39

say that when I started in

46:41

the industry, the one thing that I was probably the

46:43

most, and this is the first time I've ever said

46:45

it, so love. Here's to you.

46:48

I was very stressed out that

46:51

when I was signed, they wanted me to

46:54

wear extensions and they wanted me to, I

46:56

was like, well, what's wrong with my hair? And

46:58

then they wanted me to wear all this makeup and I

47:00

was like, oh, I guess I wasn't pretty. I

47:03

never wore makeup before. I only would put

47:05

lipstick on and put my glasses on and

47:08

what I had on my head was hair, I'd just

47:10

deal with it. And it

47:13

was eight rows. Do, do, do,

47:15

I'm out of love days were eight

47:17

rows of hair. That's why she

47:19

had the. And

47:22

I almost felt like

47:24

I could not leave or go out of

47:26

a hotel or go anywhere unless I

47:29

looked like her. And

47:31

nowadays I hire people

47:34

and for the day you

47:36

have this and then, you know, on

47:39

my Instagram, I, you know, my hair's

47:41

here and it's different, but I

47:43

now have that part of me that I could

47:46

go, you know, I'll clip it in and clip

47:48

it out. You know, that's why I say I

47:50

travel with my hair. You know, it's okay, but

47:52

I never wanted anyone to know that it wasn't

47:54

mine because then I'm not going to be pretty.

47:57

That literally was a narrative in my voice. in

48:00

my head and I was like, it's

48:02

terrible that now I'm insecure about my hair.

48:04

I never was insecure about my hair before

48:07

I got in the business, you know, and

48:09

insecure that I'm at foundation, like what's, oh

48:11

my God, I need foundation. We

48:14

definitely have to cover that up. But

48:17

then I went backwards and I was like, no, we're

48:19

not giving into that. I

48:22

can't put makeup on my face. I can't do my own

48:24

hair. So what you see is what

48:26

you get if you don't pay for glam,

48:28

you know, like. Yeah, but also all of

48:30

this detracts from your incredible gift that is

48:32

your voice and the music essentially like all of it.

48:34

So there must be a discomfort for you all certainly

48:36

was back in the day. We were like, wait a

48:38

minute. I'm a good singer. That's all that was. That

48:42

was my a

48:44

lot of people wanted me to sing the moment I

48:46

would get on their shows like, hey, so can I hear

48:48

you really saying, can you sing a little bit of

48:50

your song when you've got a song like that? I

48:53

would do that because I felt as

48:56

though I needed to prove to them that

48:58

I was a singer, you know, that I really

49:00

did sing like this because it was

49:02

almost as if they didn't believe was it studio

49:04

or was it real? And

49:06

so for the first part of, you know,

49:08

the year or years in my career,

49:10

it was like, it's yeah, it's

49:12

coming out of her voice. It's crazy. And

49:15

it was a nice feeling to do that. But

49:18

within all of the glam and the

49:20

photographs and the photographers and them

49:23

making you, you know, I doing

49:26

a campaign where it looked like I

49:28

was a five 10, you know,

49:30

I was like, really? I

49:33

was like, this is really harsh, but I can't

49:35

do anything about it because it's a campaign. But

49:37

if it was like my record, I'd have

49:40

a little bit more say but wow,

49:42

you know, like it was it's almost too

49:44

much that kind of thing. So I'm glad

49:47

to just dial it back and and

49:49

have my own comfort

49:52

level of how when I want

49:54

to get pretty, I get pretty. And

49:56

and I use the word pretty as when you

49:58

put all the stuff on. You know and

50:00

you're not in your sweats and you make you

50:03

feel good though Yes, and there's nothing wrong with

50:05

that. Whatever makes someone feel pretty. I could be

50:07

smoking a cigarette Whatever that is

50:09

for you Cheers. Yeah,

50:12

so for me, it's when the glam squad puts

50:14

the hands on me. I'm like I

50:17

look like her Are

50:20

you the singer in a stage like yes, I know You

50:22

know, so it's fun, you know Looking

50:27

back at yourself starting out in the

50:29

industry. Would you do anything differently? Um,

50:33

I Don't know

50:35

that I could do anything differently because I had

50:37

to learn all of the negative

50:42

to understand that it

50:44

didn't work for me or I think

50:47

that my honest true answer is I

50:50

Decided to leave my record company Because

50:54

my an our guy was leaving

50:57

and he's the one that signed me and he was

50:59

with me for seven years the whole journey Seven

51:03

eight years of being signed to Sony

51:05

and and I can't

51:07

he's my only he's my one and only

51:09

he makes The music happen. He thinks

51:11

in my head. He took me as as

51:14

I was and said, this is who you are Even

51:16

though they put 14 pounds of hair in

51:18

the still he allowed me to wear my

51:20

glasses and be crazy with my clothes so

51:23

we got to give him that and

51:25

he wanted to go to a different label and I said

51:27

I want to go with you and That

51:30

probably wasn't a very good idea business-wise

51:33

Didn't quite think about that part because

51:35

mine was loyalty and Artistry,

51:39

but leaving Sony the monster that

51:41

it is wasn't because Sony was

51:43

awful. It also was Sony

51:46

BMG they were all like

51:49

everywhere and nowhere at

51:51

the same time during 2007

51:53

2008 the market was a Crashing

51:56

and dying as far as Monday

52:00

you know, we were in a recession and and

52:02

I was at the top of my game

52:04

and it probably just wasn't fair to leave

52:06

Sony but he didn't really know

52:09

at that point that that

52:11

that probably was the essence

52:13

of I never wanted

52:15

to disrespect the record company, but I

52:17

felt It just was

52:20

the move I needed to make which I

52:22

probably wouldn't have made but then again

52:24

so many things happened in my life by

52:27

Doing that I journeyed in a whole

52:29

different way and I wouldn't have

52:31

had certain things happen in my life So

52:33

I I have to look at it like

52:35

I don't know that I'd not do it

52:37

again But I do understand that sometimes when

52:39

you make a decision you sort of have

52:41

to be like, yeah, probably Probably

52:44

should have stayed for a second Yeah,

52:47

but this is but I had people tell me to

52:49

stay but I she's like organically

52:51

felt like but he's my dude

52:55

You know loyalty sometimes I'm loyal to a

52:57

fault and can you be though? I think

52:59

that's a lovely quality I think it's such

53:01

a rare Well, it's in industry but there's

53:03

where it can be a to a fault

53:06

but I'm still I still believe in loyalty

53:08

and all of that and Believing

53:11

and faith and I still have all

53:13

that but I can look back

53:15

and go whoopsie doodle, you know Won't

53:18

do that again. Yeah, we can all do that

53:21

Of it We are but

53:23

it's not the word would never be

53:25

regret. Yeah, I don't have that I

53:27

have honesty of Hmm

53:31

wasn't my finest moment, you

53:33

know, but it

53:35

was what I thought I needed to do

53:38

You know, well, I'm so glad that you're

53:40

still doing what you're doing I'm a

53:42

new music out there So good to just

53:45

hang with you like on a level of

53:47

even though we're like doing this podcast people

53:49

like we also know We also just yeah,

53:52

we're just girls chatting. We're just two gals.

53:54

Yeah, I mean like I've never told

53:56

her half these things and she's like I

54:00

love it! But

54:02

thank you Anastasia and just all the love

54:04

and luck. Go and lie back on that

54:06

nice heated floor. I know but you know

54:09

I was pretending to snore. No I wasn't.

54:11

It's such a real snoring. It's such a real snore. Like

54:14

was that real? I was like

54:16

yeah and I posted it so

54:18

you're welcome. Tear off! And then

54:20

I made a meme for myself.

54:23

Oh you better. So you have to check out that. I forget

54:25

what it was but then afterwards I was like I need to

54:27

meme myself you know. So it's fun.

54:29

You're the best. Oh thank you so are

54:31

you. Love you Anastasia. I love you too darling.

54:36

Oh just two gals chatting

54:38

away. Oh that was

54:40

just what I needed. She boosted me

54:42

and the whole Happy Place team during

54:45

that recording. It was just so wonderful

54:47

to be with Anastasia. What an absolute

54:49

gem. That was the best. Anastasia

54:52

thank you so much for coming all

54:54

the way to the UK to hang

54:56

out with us. Anastasia's new album Our

54:58

Songs is essentially the greatest hits of

55:00

recent German pop history interpreted by the

55:02

greatest voice in the pop world. What

55:04

a combo. It's out now

55:06

as is the current single Now or

55:08

Never. Now are you

55:10

part of our Happy Place book club?

55:13

I really hope you are. It's the

55:15

place that we can all connect with

55:17

fellow bookworms. In March we're

55:19

going to be reading Killjoy by

55:21

Joe Cheaton. Oh it's a really

55:24

brilliant book. It tells the incredible

55:26

true story of the No More

55:29

page 3 campaign and the very

55:31

unlikely everyday women who made a

55:33

huge societal change possible through the

55:36

power of grassroots activism. It's

55:38

a real celebration of what can be achieved

55:41

when we shout just a little bit louder.

55:44

I'd really love for you to read along with

55:46

us so grab yourself a copy and come join

55:48

us on Instagram at Happy Place Book Club. We

55:50

can all do the juicy chatting there and there'll

55:53

be loads of extra content around the book too.

55:55

And I will of course catch you back in

55:57

next week but until then it's a huge. Huge,

56:00

huge thank you to Anastasia, to

56:02

the producer Anushka Tate at Happy

56:04

Place Studios and to you.

56:06

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