Riding her own wave

Elly Jackson says her music has been influenced by underground clubs rather than the mainstream. Photo / Supplied

From her flaming coif to her pulsing, synthetic songs, it would be easy to assume Elly Jackson is another desperate pop tart. That she's all calculated image and cultivated personality - and just the latest in a lengthening line of 80s revivalists coming out of Britain.

But the 21-year-old Londoner is remarkably straight up. Her hair colour is natural, the hairstyle accidental (she tried to cut her own hair and decided she rather liked the wonky result) and her music, a direct result of time spent raving in underground clubs away from the influences of mainstream radio and MTV.

It's fair to say, she doesn't deal in bullshit. She doesn't buy it - ignoring the over-hyped nonsense churned out by the British music press - and she certainly doesn't spin it.

Speaking from outside London's Millennium Dome, where she has just wrapped a corporate gig for Top Shop, the La Roux singer laughs lightly when asked if she was paid in clothes.

"I think it's fairly obvious I don't shop in Top Shop a great deal. That's kind of the point with La Roux. They've not given me any free clothes, probably knowing that I'm not going to wear them."

La Roux - the duo comprised of Jackson and silent partner Ben Langmaid - make fun, alternative synthpop. It's wickedly catchy, without being disposable. And has already found favour with listeners and critics, climbing the singles charts and earning a nomination for this year's Mercury Prize.

Despite a healthy mistrust of the music media and industry - who vote for the prize - Jackson admits she was genuinely chuffed to receive the special nod.

"I think the Mercury is one of the awards you can rely on not being based so much on ... I was going to say hype, but I don't know actually. It's just something that's got a bit of class to it and it's just so different to any other award."

Regarded as a less commercial alternative to the Brit Awards, the Mercury Prize has a history of acknowledging lesser known, independent acts. This year's finalists include Florence and the Machine, Glasvegas, Bat for Lashes, Friendly Fires, Kasabian and six others.

But Jackson realises she might not have been recognised without the fervent hype that has surrounded La Roux, even before their album release in June.

"I suppose without the hype, there would be certain acts, including us, who wouldn't be in it. But, I hope the award is based on whether you can write good songs and if you've come up with a modern sound. I think it is pretty reliable."

La Roux's sound is modern - taking 80s references and bringing them into the new millennium - and unique. But it has still been linked to the recent surge of female artists with a penchant for synthesisers and danceable beats - think Ladyhawke, Little Boots and even Lady Gaga.

It's a movement Jackson was oblivious to while creating the album, which she says was inspired by her time in underground raves.

"I think I would have been really tempted to steer away a lot from some of the things we did on the album if I had have known," she says. "But at the same time, I'm glad I didn't because you should always do the things you want to do.

"Every movement that happens, I don't think any of those people are aware that they're going to be a part of something."

Besides, she says, she really can't see the similarities between herself and the disco bop of Lady Gaga, or even the 80s-heavy electropop of Ladyhawke.

"I really like Ladyhawke's album but I don't see the similarities. It's a lot more band-y, a lot more instrument-based.

"It's not like I didn't expect it. It's not something that I'm sitting here being really annoyed about or whatever. In time, we'll all stand out and make our own places for ourselves."

Some might argue Jackson already has. Despite regularly being lumped into the new wave of synthpop dance mavens, La Roux is the only one to have received the Mercury nod.

And if she's honest, Jackson not only knew she would be grouped in with other performers and labelled - she was almost counting on it.

When choosing a name for the act, Jackson decided on La Roux (which means "the red-haired one" in French) as it embraced her natural hair colour, which has been a talking point throughout her life, and was distinctively un-English.

"I didn't want it to be a really, really English thing. There had been a lot of that, it was a trend - with the Kate Nashes and whatever.

"I knew I was going to be bunched in with people anyway. I didn't know who it was going to be but I thought at least be bunched in with a new lot rather than an old lot.

"I've got French roots and I feel very connected to France ... I kind of thought it would be nice to have that in there and the red hair in there. It's the two things I could think of that I wouldn't mind exaggerating or highlighting."

With both the band's name and the album's cover art stemming directly from Jackson - her eccentric haircut as recognisable as her shrill higher register - it's easy to mistake the Tilda Swinton lookalike as a solo act.

On the road, she is - touring and performing as a one-woman show.

But the pulsing party beats are a wholly collaborative effort between Jackson and Langmaid. He just prefers to stay in the studio shadows, explains Jackson.

"It was always going to be like that. It's not a problem ... It's just the way it is and the way it's always been understood."

Langmaid has, however, been instrumental in shaping their sound - and guiding his younger partner through the competitive minefield that is the music industry.

"He's made mistakes before and he's been treated like shit. He's had those crap things happen to him that people always tell stories about. Doing half of something and then being sidelined, and never seeing any money. All that kind of shit.

"He's learnt from those experiences and passed that knowledge on to me. We researched the people that we work with so heavily. You need someone like that by your side when you enter into the industry. Really, there are sharks in the water."

Fortunately, Jackson seems more than adept at fending for herself and decided early on to avoid the industry's over-worked hype machine.

"Certain magazines and certain radio stations - even the BBC with the poll [Sound of 2009] - they want to second guess everything, they want to jump on everything. If it is going to be the next greatest band, they want to be the first ones on it and the first ones to have said it. Rather than actually waiting and seeing how people do.

"Before the first single's come out, they're like 'this is the next big thing'. How can you possibly say that?

"It is just ridiculous and I've learned to ignore it. I think most intelligent people have learned to ignore it as well."

LOWDOWN

Who: La Roux frontwoman Elly Jackson, It girl of Brit synthpop
Born: March 8, 1988 in Brixton, London
What: Self-titled debut album (out now) nominated for the Mercury Prize, announced next month.
Trivia: Jackson's mum is British actress Trudie Goodwin of The Bill fame.