Four girls ( Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall ) formed a girl group in the middle of the eighth season of the United Kingdom's X Factor, resulting in Little Mix. They eventually won and were the first group to do so. They immediately signed with Simon Cowell's label Syco Records, releasing a cover of Damien Rice's "Cannonball."
Little Mix released its debut album, DNA, charting as high as number four on the U.S. Billboard list.
Thanks to a hit single, "Wings," and an autobiography called Ready to Fly, the ladies flew to new heights. The group's second album, Salute, was just released.
Nunn on One spoke with Nelson about new music, playing in Chicago and the legacy of X Factor.
Windy City Times: Hi, Jesy. You are originally from London?
Jesy Nelson: I am from London, yes.
WCT: Where did the spelling of your name come from?
Jesy Nelson: I took it upon myself to spell it that way. My real name is Jessica.
WCT: So Jesy is a nickname.
Jesy Nelson: No, it's not a nickname. It's just that me mum decided to call me Jesy. She has never actually called me Jessica so I don't know why she named me that. [Laughs]
WCT: How did you wind up auditioning for X Factor in the first place?
Jesy Nelson: Long story short, basically I wanted to be an actress and that didn't work out. Then I wanted to be a dancer and that didn't work out. I was stuck and didn't have any qualifications. My friend asked me to go out for X Factor but I said no. She told me I had nothing to lose. I had sung a bit in my bedroom and a little in the shower. I hadn't sung in front of anyone in my whole entire life. I just decided to do it for the experience. To win it was pretty cool.
WCT: What an adventure after that.
Jesy Nelson: It is crazy. I never ever wanted to be a singer and now I love it!
WCT: How is it working with Simon Cowell?
Jesy Nelson: It is amazing. We don't really see him that much, to be honest, because he's a very busy man but when we do it is lovely.
WCT: How does Little Mix stand out from other girl groups?
Jesy Nelson: I don't think we are a typical-looking girl band. We are very girl-next-door. We don't really care what other people think. We wear what we want. If they don't like it then they can sod off!
I think our music is very inspiring to young people and young girls. I think we cater to a lot of people because we are all completely different. Our music has a really strong message.
WCT: Have you noticed a lot of gay boys listening to your music, too?
Jesy Nelson: Yeah!
WCT: How was it working with Missy Elliot on "How Ya Doin'?" I heard she is one of your favorites.
Jesy Nelson: She has been my idol since I was a little girl. We haven't got to actually meet her yet but her being on our track was incredible. She is a lovely person. I have talked to her on Twitter a few times. She's really cool.
WCT: What was it like releasing an autobiography?
Jesy Nelson: We did that straight after X Factor, which was a bit crazy. We had so much stuff coming out and a bit surreal. We spoke about when we were younger and what our dreams were, how we got into singing, and why we did X Factor. It was about our journey really.
WCT: Your album Salute came out [recently, and was] number one on iTunes.
Jesy Nelson: Yeah, it debuted at number one, which was amazing. We are hovering at number two at the moment. We have to keep it there. We need all of our fans to download it. Hopefully we will do even better than what we charted last time.
WCT: I love the single "Move."
Jesy Nelson: Aw, thank you.
WCT: Can you talk about that song a bit?
Jesy Nelson: "Move" we wrote and it was kind of random how it came about. We went in and didn't have a clue about what we were going to do. We were excited about mucking around and making weird noises. The producers thought it would be really cool for a song. We ran the noises together and that made the production. We wrote over the top of it and that is how it came about.
WCT: What is the trick to making cover songs your own?
Jesy Nelson: I think when we do covers we always sound different because we are obviously a group. We have a harmony so when we add that it makes it different. We are so individual with our voices. We always try to make it our own and sing our own parts.
WCT: Salute sounds like a lot of work. How was the process of making it?
Jesy Nelson: Oh, gosh. Even though it was really hard work we didn't have much time. I think we had like two months to write it then we recorded it in 11 days, the whole album, which was a bit manic.
It was weird because everyone thought a second album would be a lot scarier and have more pressure but we knew exactly what we wanted to do. We had learned from the first album what worked and what didn't work. The first album was our first on handling songwriting so we started doing that. We learned what our fans wanted and didn't like. We really knew what we wanted our second album to be.
Even though it was a bit of pressure to write it in two months we did all right.
WCT: It sounds like a complete album instead of a bunch of singles.
Jesy Nelson: Thank you.
WCT: You are going to be out on the road with Demi Lovato.
Jesy Nelson: Yes, we start on Sunday in Vancouver. We can't wait. We absolutely love Demi. It will be amazing and we can't wait to perform for our fans.
WCT: Have you seen her perform on Glee?
Jesy Nelson: I haven't actually, no.
WCT: Fifth Harmony are also on the tour. What do you think of them?
Jesy Nelson: They are incredible. I remember their auditions. We are big X Factor fans anyways so we are constantly watching the UK and the American versions. I remember when they auditioned as solo acts. Their solo singing is amazing. I think they are really good. It will be exciting with a lot of girl power on the tour.
WCT: You get to return to Chicago.
Jesy Nelson: We just want it to hurry up and start. We can't wait! This is our first proper tour.
WCT: Is the goal to tour on your own soon?
Jesy Nelson: We would love to and hopefully it will happen. That's the aim!
WCT: You should perform at the gay bars. "Wings" is played at the local venues in Chicago.
Jesy Nelson: Yay, we would love to. That would be wicked!
The television show X Factor will be well-represented as Little Mix, Demi Lovato, Cher Lloyd and Fifth Harmony take over Allstate Arena on March 14. Tickets and more information can be found at www.little-mix.com .
