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You write a lot of your own stuff, is it important for a vocalist to believe in what you’re singing?

Absolutely, whenever I sing a song that I haven’t written, I feel like it has to be something I can identify with. I think you can usually find that in most songs because we have so many emotions and go through so much in our lives that you’ve really got a lot to drawn upon.

What’s your first musical memory, Mel?

I was born in Whiston hospital and we lived in Rainhill. I remember being in the baker’s shop and Kate Bush was on the radio. That must have been 1978. I think it was Wuthering Heights. I always loved Kate Bush because she used to dance too, and I loved dance.

When you went out with your mates in your teenage years, where did you go?

I spent a lot of Saturday nights entertaining friends at my Mum’s house, but don’t tell her! I grew up in Widnes and as I got older we’d go into Warrington and Liverpool. I had some really great years in between Spice Girls and my first solo record. I spent a lot time at my apartment at the Albert Dock. It was a really wonderful time. We’d go into town and go to the clubs.

It’s funny, I used to go along to gigs, and I thought all mums were singers when I was a kid! When I got older and realised that other mums all did different things, I was so proud of her. I used to love seeing her on that stage. You know when you just want to go ‘that’s my mum!’ I felt quite special, and proud of her.

Did seeing your mum perform make you want to do that?

It was glamorous and I always knew I wanted to perform but I didn’t really have much confidence. I went down the dancing route and went to performing arts college, but there was something about singing that made me feel so great.  I got such a good reception one year at college and it changed everything for me. After that, all I wanted to do was sing.

There’s always one song we all think we can do well, what’s yours?

When I was a kid I loved Madonna and I knew all the routines, but the first song I ever did on my own at school was The Greatest Love of All. I was so nervous the whole first verse was flat.

Who was the first fella you fancied?

My first crush was Adam Ant! He had such a look.

Were you a bit of a tomboy at school?

I was into ballet, so I was quite graceful. I spent a lot of time in drama productions and some of the sport teams, like netball and hockey. I thought I was great! We dug out the old trophies a few months ago and it’s brilliant looking back at them.

So the Spice Girls came out of thin air didn’t it?

It was amazing. After being at college for three years and auditioning, I really wanted to get a record deal. I was at an audition one day and someone handed me a flyer for a girl band audition and I said ‘that’s it, that’s what I’ll do’ and it turned out to be the Spice Girls.

It was unique wasn’t it? At first we were auditioned and put together and we were singing other people’s songs and dressing the same. We didn’t want that, so we left the original management and we met songwriters and producers and started co-writing. We were all very individual and we thought we would play on that and use it as a strength. We went to our second manager, Simon Fuller, with the album virtually written, all looking the way we did and the nicknames were given to us by a magazine.
It wasn’t really engineered, it came from us.

It’s chemistry really. There’s something about us when we get together, even now it’s magical. The guy that auditioned us originally saw something and made the right decisions. It just works.

When you have such an enormous international reputation, it makes going solo so difficult because in England the media want you to fail.

It can be tough. We’ve had quite a hard time in the media. We were flying the British flag all over world and were proud to be conquering America. I just wish the media had a little more respect for the Spice Girls.

I like to think I’ve learned quite a lot over the years and I seem to be going through a really good period with the press at the moment, everyone seems to be really positive. My new album is getting the best reviews of my solo career.