One To Watch: Mini Viva

07 August 2009

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Welcome to the supersonic pop onslaught of Mini Viva. Meet Frankee (19) and Britt (20), the latest, smartest, realest pop darlings to rollerblade onto the catwalk of big, brash, British girl-pop excess.

Some incidental, Mini facts for the inevitable Wikipedia entry: Frankee’s bored of Facebook. Britt fancies Lenny Kravitz (“so HOT it’s ridiculous”). Britt’s mum thinks she’s Madonna when she does the cleaning in the kitchen. Frankee’s the mature one (“only cos I’ve got to be”). Britt was chucked out of school for locking a French teacher in the stock room (“nobody liked French anyway”). Frankee’s favourite Spice Girl was Mel B. And Britt’s was Geri. Who, let’s face it, was so the Spice Girl that would’ve locked her French teacher in a cupboard. “She put every last bit of her energy into that band,” says Britt, “and that’s what we do with Mini Viva.” 

Over the last 18 months Mini Viva have been working with the stellar production team at Xenomania HQ. They describe the sound they have found with their collaborators as “pop with a quirky edge. It could only be us.” First on the starting block is the potential feelgood hit of the late summer, Left My Heart In Tokyo. Readying for their launch, Mini Viva have got to write with international hit-makers at Xenomania Brian Higgins, Miranda Cooper and the Swedish singer Annie. 

Mini Viva found their name at the bottom of a poster that caught their eye in London. “It felt right,” says Frankee. “And now it sounds right,” adds Britt. When not howling with laughter, these girls have a telepathic trick for continuing each other’s sentences. “We’re like sisters,” says Frankee.

“She’s Mini,” says Frankee of Britt, “because she reminds me of Minnie Mouse. A bit bonkers, like. She does her own thing”. “And she’s Viva,” adds Britt, “exotic, cool and beautiful, with that face that says butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.” Don’t be deceived. Together, Mini Viva are here to strut right into the hearts of the massive, giddy demographic that cares about great pop. To throw a bit of neon glitter over it with their sensational debut album, due in November.

Flip back a year and a half. Frankee had spent three months in a smalltime girl-band in her home city of Manchester when a request came through on their MySpace page for the band to audition for the brilliant modern Hit Factory that is Xenomania. Britt was at a breakdancing competition in her native Newcastle when her mum spotted a flyer from the production team looking for girls to audition for them. “To be honest, I didn’t want to do it,” says Britt, “I didn’t believe that anyone would be interested in me or my singing.” “I thought it might be a nice day out down South,” adds Frankee. As it turns out, it was to change both of their lives. Before that audition, the biggest audience the girls had individually sang to was an audience of one: in the mirror, in classic girlpop education tradition, with a hairbrush.

“We were sat waiting to go in and audition with some other girls and we instantly clicked, before we’d even been introduced to each other,” says Britt. “I think it was a Northern thing” adds Frankee. “All the other girls were really stage school,” continues Britt, “They kept showing off their vocals while we were waiting, to see who was better than the others. We just had a gossip up the back.”

Mini Viva is the first notable British female pop duo to launch since Mel&Kim over 20 years ago. Any nerves? “I don’t think either of us knew what we’d sound like together,” says Britt, “until we were summoned into Brian’s studio to do a tiny little gig for everyone at the studio and it just sort of fell into place.” “The thing is it probably shouldn’t work with the two of us,” says Frankee.

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