Marina had a quick phone call yesterday with friend and DJ Greg James on his Radio 1 show to talk about “BBC Introducing“. They discuss how it helped Marina boost her career and what she is up to right now. You can listen and read some of the highlights from the interview below.

Now the reason I am calling you is just to have a little chat about BBC Introducing, cause all this week we are talking about how important things like BBC Introducing are to a new artist. Now turn the clock back a couple of years and you kind of had a little mini break on BBC Introducing didn’t you?

Yeah I did actually. I started to get press about 2 years ago and I remember Huw Stephens introducing me to the world of Radio 1 and he invited me to play in Swindon at The Big Weekend and that was when things really started off for me.
I know it sounds really cheesy saying it but you really can’t underplay the importance of it because it really did do a lot for me, Especially because the stuff I had out back then was a lot more left field than the stuff I would finally release.

What happened after the Introducing thing did you notice the fan base got any bigger from the back of that or what?

I got lots of press off it and it just started the ball rolling and the next big thing a year later was the BBC Poll. I think it was great, I think people can be quite cynical about these things but it was so good for me it got me so much exposure and so quickly.

And also, It led on to you doing The Big Weekend proper on the In New Music We Trust stage last year.

Yeah, Exactly, Which I was really happy about.

One of few artists to go from the Introducing stage to one of the main stages which is quite an achievement.

So you’re working on some new stuff at the minute and then what? Touring? Where abouts?

Actually, I had two American tours but I cancelled them because I’m really really wanting to get on to the next record but I will be touring again by I don’t know.. probably June. It’s been two years touring so it’s nice to stay in one place.

Related Links > 10/05/2009 : Radio 1′s Big Weekend, Lydiard Park
Related Links > 23/05/2010 : Radio 1′s Big Weekend, Bangor

Welsh singer Marina Diamandis, frontwoman of kooky-cool pop band Marina and the Diamonds and the new face of Max Factor, made her first visit to Australia earlier this month for The Falls music festival. InStyle chatted to the striking 25-year-old about vintage shopping, life mottos and her love of Jessica Rabbit.

Tell us about your style.
“I’m a real chameleon. I love feminine things, but I also quite like brash and bold clothes–things attitude. It changes so much.”

Do you have any style icons?
“I like the way Shirley Manson from Garbage and Gwen Stefani dress. But Jessica Rabbit would be my style icon. She is a fabulous femme fatale. Anybody who doesn’t like Jessica Rabbit is nuts.”

We hear you’re a big fan of vintage clothing…
“I am. I love bargain shopping in vintage stores and I like eccentric things. I went through a stage where I bought lots of vintage cheerleading outfits.”

If you were a piece of clothing, what would you be?
“It would probably be a brightly coloured woollen cardigan with a bunny [ears] hood. There is a label called Fairground that makes them.”

What are your handbag essentials?
“Three pairs of sunglasses, a compact mirror, baby wipes and apples. I know it sounds weird, but it comes in handy when you get peckish throughout the day.”

Favourite pastime?
“Trawling the internet for inspirational images.”

What’s one thing our readers might be surprised to learn about you?
“I don’t like leaving things open–I have to shut everything. I can’t sleep if there are any windows or drawers open in the house.”

Do you have a motto or mantra that you try to live by?
“My mantra is not to have a mantra because you hardly ever live up to them. The only thing that has ever worked for me has been to be completely honest, even if that means exposing yourself to a world or situation that makes you uncomfortable.”

-Sarah Ranawake

Marina from Marina and the Diamonds says her career failed in 2010.

In an interview with Undercover.fm, Marina opened up about how she wants to be the biggest star in the world and it didn’t happen. She said her American label Chop Shop did little to help her career and that she is pissed off that she isn’t bigger.

“It had been a big year but I feel more like a failure than a success, I haven’t done anything I wanted to. For someone who wants to be one of the best artists of her generation I’ve done fuck-all”.

Marina says America is a hard market to crack.

“The Americans, I absolutely adore my fanbase there, but it has been built purely on me and my online presence. The label haven’t really promoted me I’m afraid. It’s very difficult. It’s not really the labels fault. The pop landscape there is so difficult to penetrate and as you go into this danceworld now, dance music was quite underground for a long time in America but now because of Gaga and people like that it has been brought back. You need to be in that pumping beats area and I am certainly not”.

Thanks to my friend Sam from The-Fame.org we now have a HQ photoshoot of Marina shot by Tatia Hahne back in March last year. This shoot was shot in Amsterdam, the same day as another set we have by Alex Vanhee. Click the thumbnails below to view the pictures in our photo gallery.

Related Links > Photoshoots In 2010 > Session 47 : Titia Hahne [HQ]

Welsh singer-songwriter Marina Diamandis has just wrapped up her debut Australian tour with her stage act Marina and the Diamonds.

She was scheduled to head to the US next for a run of shows there but revealed to triple j that there’s been a change of plans.

Actually I have cancelled my US tour to write because I have been writing quite a lot but it’s in a very fragmented way so I have about seven songs with just the verse. Great idea for a song, haven’t got a chorus yet…

Instead, Marina plans to be back in to the studio next week to start work on a new album, the follow up to her 2010 debut The Family Jewels. While that record has earned her fans all around the world, Marina revealed that she’s not content to just continue touring those songs.

I don’t feel satisfied at all. It was a really strong debut, it was exactly what I wanted to make but I have much greater plans and greater visions for myself. I love writing and that’s the most import ant thing.

The album is rumoured for an October release.

Happy New Year everyone. 2010 was such a great year. It took a while but we finally opened the site and it has just kept on growing ever since. Thank you to everyone who continues to visit & support the site. Thanks to Marina for being so inspiring and giving us all amazing music to listen to, amazing videos to watch and for generally just being amazing. 2011 is going to be huge. We have so many things planned for the site, first being a fresh new layout & we hope to continue being the best place on-line for all the Diamonds out there. x