A day before Sophie Ellis-Bextor is set to dazzle a sold-out crowd under a disco ball in Oslo, she calls from the tour bus in Europe, which left from Germany the night prior. To the average person, this country-hopping schedule would be incredibly draining, but Ellis-Bextor is her usual bubbly self. It is just another Thursday for her, as she has been used to juggling it all for over a decade.
Over the past few months, Ellis-Bextor has found herself in a whirlwind once again, as her 2001 song, “Murder On The Dancefloor,” is seeing a massive revival — due to both its use in a wild scene from the film Saltburn and TikTok users playing the addictive dance tune on repeat. It led to her performing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and the BAFTAs, announcing her first North American tour, with most of the dates currently sold out, and earning her first gold record in the United States.
This also doesn’t account for the Spinning Plates podcast she leads, which has featured guests like Jessie Ware, Róisín Murphy, and even her mother, Janet Ellis. She runs a weekly Kitchen Disco show for BBC Radio 2. She is an ambassador for Save The Children UK. Additionally, Ellis-Bextor released an autobiography titled Spinning Plates: Music, Men, Motherhood And Me, a cookbook with her husband, performed at Glastonbury, all while being a mother of five, and has no plans to slow down.
Ellis-Bextor’s dexterity when it comes to juggling all aspects of her career and her constant pursuit to shine a light on women across all walks of life serve as a prime definition of what Women’s History Month means — making her a marvelous person to speak to about it all.
Read Uproxx’s conversation with Sophie Ellis-Bextor below.
Hi Sophie!
Greetings from Norway!
I know you’re currently on tour across Europe, which has looked like so much fun. Has it been different playing shows since the “Murder On The Dancefloor” resurgence?
Thank you, it’s been really great. Crowds have been awesome. I love doing my touring, it’s very satisfying. So far, the gigs we’ve been playing sold out before what happened with “Murder,” so it’s maybe a little bit early to tell.
What has it been like to see that song blow up again into such a major hit so long after its initial release? You’ve done a lot recently.
Yeah, definitely wild. But it’s so much fun and just really exciting. I love it when fun things happen, unexpected things happen. I’ve been lucky enough to have it a couple of times in my career when something unexpected has just taken flight. It’s always pretty glorious and you just got to enjoy it. Those moments are special.
What would you consider some of those other unexpected moments?
Definitely my first kind of solo single as a featured artist. I did a dance collaboration with a guy called Spiller. He’s an Italian DJ. We had a song called “Groovejet.” I had no idea how big that song was gonna be. It was crazy. It just picked me up and whisked me around. I guess also I should probably credit the first time I got signed when I was 18. That was a big whirlwind too. And actually, I think more recently what happened with the Kitchen Discos, which is some Instagram Live shows we were doing from our house during the pandemic. It was crazy.
Moving back to “Murder On The Dancefloor,” how were you first approached for the song to appear in Saltburn? Was there a conversation about it?
Whenever you’re approached about giving permission, you get a little synopsis about how the song is going to be used. All I knew initially was that it was a film written and directed by Emerald Fennell, who I already thought was brilliant. It was going to be all of the song and someone dancing to it naked. But to be honest, I didn’t quite get the significance. I also didn’t really know if it was going to happen, because sometimes we get asked for permission and maybe they edit it out.
I’ve seen another interview where you mentioned you watched the premiere of the movie with your family. What were their thoughts about the movie after? Or how have they reacted to the return of “Murder On The Dancefloor”?
Yeah, it was my mum and one of my kids. We actually all loved it. Everybody’s been really supportive. It’s the same as always, really, my lovely family. We’re all looking out for each other. My brother’s actually with me here on tour because he plays drums in my band. My mum and my sister are flying out for the tour next week.
I think it’s always the same in lots of families. Whoever’s got intense work going on or fun things, we all kind of share in it together. Also, making sure everybody’s okay. My mum’s always trying to make sure I’m getting enough sleep.
I also saw the other day that you and Natasha Bedingfield did a video where you were singing to each other’s songs, which are both seeing a resurgence through movies. Have you known each other for a while or how did that hang out happen?
We’ve known each other for quite a while. Natasha had a solo career that was booming around the time I think I was doing my second album. Our paths used to cross a lot of the time and we’ve got lots of mutual friends. We were talking together last summer. She was coming into the UK and I was helping her find some childcare.
I’m curious because you started your career really as the internet was taking off. How has your relationship with social media changed over the years?
I think it’s all for the better. When I first started, if you wanted to get a message out, there was a committee of people you had to go through. I love the fact that now, you can be spontaneous. You can interact. You can share more of yourself. I think in some ways, it’s all happened at the right time for me. I think when I was younger, I might not have been quite so sure what I felt like sharing. Now, I can enjoy it. It makes me feel like you’ve got more ability to communicate.
I do kind of want to go back in time a bit. On your current tour, you cover ABBA and Madonna. In your book, you mentioned loving Pulp’s “Disco 2000” as a teenager. Is there one particular moment growing up that made you discover you wanted to make music? Or specifically, catchy pop songs?
Yeah, I always adored pop music. When I was little, I used to sing along to everything and I still remember the lyrics to pop records I had when I was five. But I think it was, in a way, a bit of a late awakening. It wasn’t actually until I was asked about singing in the band that all the dots joined up and I realized how significant music and singing [were] for me. That was when I was 16. Before that, I always loved music.
After being in Theaudience, you launched a solo career, which has been incredibly successful. I’m wondering at the time though if it was a bit of a shift going from being in a band or if you sort of knew things were just going to work?
Oh no, I didn’t think things were going to work out. When my band was dropped before “Groovejet,” I thought I’d had the best of my career already. I thought it was game over really. That was a defining moment because that’s what’s helped me always appreciate how lucky I’ve been and all the things that have happened. So much of it is serendipity, you know? Right place at the right time and people I’ve been lucky enough to work with.
You dropped a semi-recent album with Hana which was inspired by a trip you took to Japan with your mom and oldest son. What was it about that vacation that made you want to use it as a launch point creatively?
It was a few things. It was the third album I wrote with a guy called Ed Harcourt. We’d always planned to do three albums together. The first one was inspired by Eastern Europe because I used to go there a lot on tour. The second one was inspired by Latin America. Then for the third one, we were looking for a landscape. I think Tokyo became significant because it [was] just before the world went into lockdown. It was such an extraordinary place and it was also tied into lots of things that were happening.
My stepdad was supposed to go on that trip. He was too ill to travel, so I went in his place. And then he died in June. So, I had all these things going on in my world: grief, Kitchen Discos, pandemic, family time. The album became [this] wonky dreamlike escape from everything but also exploring some of that stuff. Even though I was feeling very satisfied by all the pops that the Kitchen Discos were giving me, I needed something a bit more introspective from my songwriting. Now, I feel ready to do more dance-pop.
According to your Wikipedia, you’re also working on a new album. Are you able to share any more info about that, if it’s true?
Yeah, it’s true! Even before Hana came out, I knew I wasn’t going to be working with Ed for another project because we just made that plan. I was already thinking I [wanted] to make a dance disco album. In a way, what’s happened with “Murder” is very serendipitous because I didn’t know that was going to happen. It all feels like the wind is in the right direction.
You’re also playing your first North American tour this year and a ton of the dates have sold out, which is major. Is there a city you’re most looking forward to? Or even, you know, a dream venue or place you’d want to format one day?
I’ve never been to San Francisco. People have always told me they think I’ll love it. That’s somewhere I’m very excited about coming to visit. The whole thing is pretty dreamy. For a while, I’ve had a little cluster of American fans. They’d say ‘Come to America!’ and I was always like, ‘Oh, I don’t know, it feels risky.’ Putting this on sale and seeing people buy tickets is incredible. I feel super excited and quite moved by it. I think to be at my stage in my career and having new adventures is just such a privilege.
With part of this interview, I did want to tie it to Women’s History Month. I know spotlighting other hardworking women is a major part of your life and what you do. What made you want to start the Spinning Plates podcast initially?
I noticed anytime I was chatting with a woman, from any walk of life, the conversation when we both realized we were mothers would always go towards the same thing. I found navigating my work with motherhood sometimes quite tricky. Sometimes, there’s a lot of guilt and trying to straddle all things so that you feel like you’re getting what you need. I was curious to hear from other women. Also, I just love talking to people about their careers, what they get up to, hearing their wisdom and their stories. It’s been a really lovely thing to do and that’s why I’ve kept it going.
One of your interviews was with Jessie Ware, and I was struck that you two were talking about how you both still try to find ways to be creative while juggling the work aspect. Because it doesn’t fit into like a 9 to 5. How do you feel like your approach to making music and songwriting changed after having children?
I suppose in some ways, it’s quite hard to remember because my eldest is going to be twenty next month. I think a lot of it has been about giving myself permission to prioritize the work. When I was younger, you could be a bit more scruffy with your timing. When you’re going to work, [it] means time away from home. I’m like, ‘Right, let’s make this count.’ It gave me a lot of clarity and it sharpened my senses a little bit. Also, I realized how much I need it as well. I do think I’m a better mum because I’m able to do the work that I do.
You two were also talking about what it’s like being away on tour. And you mentioned the guilt and the emotions that come with it. Your children are now obviously a range of different ages. Has it become sort of easier being away in that tour bubble as they’ve grown older?
It’s easier because [of] how you do the travel. My eldest came with me on the tour bus for the first four nights. I’ve got my eleven-year-old arriving tomorrow. I’ve got better at divvying up and involving them when I think they’ll be having fun. It’s still tricky. My youngest is only five. I won’t be seeing him while I’m in Europe and that’s tough. But then you make up for it. He’ll come with me for another trip and then we’ll have a little holiday. Hopefully, when they’re older, expecting me and their dad to go off and have our adventures but always come home will give them the confidence to have adventures too.
Speaking of family, in your book you mentioned that your grandfather worked as a special effects artist and helped build the Daleks on Doctor Who. Can I ask more about that?
Oh, my grandpa was brilliant. He was quite a quirky man. When my mum was growing up, they moved all around Germany. Then once they were based in London, he started working in special effects, mainly for the BBC. So, even now, sometimes if I’m at the BBC, I might get someone saying, ‘Oh yes, I remember your grandfather, Mike Ellis.’ He was always making things. Homemade fireworks, don’t know if it’s recommended, but he would. Baby gates with space for the cat flap. He was a bit of an inventor. He was a man that didn’t say very much. He wasn’t very demonstrably affectionate. But after he died, I realized that there were mementos of how much he loved the family everywhere.
Do you feel like that encouraged you to explore your creative side a little more?
Yeah, I think him and also the fact that my mum had gone to drama school and then worked in TV. She was a TV presenter and my dad still is a TV director and producer. That’s the life I grew up around. I was always going to TV sets. It would be different projects, different travel. That must, must, must have made a difference. Even though music always felt like my thing, seeing them do jobs that weren’t conventional and were creative made me feel like it was possible.
Sometimes, we hear of people who are in the arts and they’ve come from backgrounds that have nothing to do with the arts. I think, ‘Wow, the bravery and the extraordinary life.’ I was so lucky. I was already someone that, you know, born in London, parents in TV. It’s not so unlikely for someone like me to get started but I know I’ve had it a lot easier than most.
I do want to switch gears a little bit and talk about some of the other work you’ve done. You’ve done quite a bit with Care International. Last year, you teamed up with Helen for the International Women’s Day podcast. And I believe a few years ago, you performed at their March For Women. How did you first get involved with the organization?
There’s a brilliant composer called David Arnold and he was putting together the music for a big Women’s Day Care International event they were having in Trafalgar Square. Through that, I met a woman called Helen Pankhurst. She’s the great-granddaughter of the woman who started the Suffragettes, which gave women the [right to] vote in the UK. For me, it’s a bit of a no-brainer that if you’re lucky enough to have a profile and there are things you care about, then you use [it] as a platform.
Supporting rights for women, supporting children, and the arts, I’ve always got behind. Sometimes, it can feel quite enormous. The progress is still out there to be made, but there are so many incredible women, organizations, people, and men, too, making the world a better place every day.
That episode you and Helen did together, I got about halfway through it. I found it particularly moving, like how there was the story of a woman who left Ukraine for Poland with her young son. What was it like for you to record and hear their stories?
I’m on the road and you’re sharing this glorious life, but you’re aware you’re sharing the planet with people who are having devastating change. It’s sometimes the juxtaposition of what can be going on simultaneously on the planet is mindblowing, isn’t it? Having those conversations and opening your mind up to what life means for different people, I think that’s what it means to be a human being.
To close, what advice would you give to either new moms or your younger self?
I don’t even know if new mums need my advice… The people I’ve found that feel the happiest are the ones who carve out their own shape. Advice for little me? Oh, golly. The bit of advice I’ve always followed is about trusting your instincts. [Although] I’ve been singing “Murder On The Dancefloor” since it came out, being reunited with how it began, [the] early stages of promoting it, the video, and the artwork, it’s still stuff I like. I think if you like what you’re doing, chances are if you’re greeted by it again in twenty years, you’re going to feel alright.