COFFEE SHOP CONVERSATION:
Piper Hart
- Archie Jones
D
espite the muggy atmosphere of London, pop
sensation Piper Hart enters our local coffee shop without a single hair our of place. Now, this doesn't shock me- with 7 Grammy's and 14 Grammy nominations to her name through her singing in Girls On Fire, Piper is used to walking through life with the up most grace, the elegance of a Royal.
She orders a chai tea latte and settles down with a small smile and a pleasant hello.
I cut straight to the chase, asking her what happened to lead to Pop's biggest girl group to break up:
"We have not broken up" she insists, her hands circling in the air between us, "we are on a break, not broken up, there were creative differences. Different avenues that we all wanted to peruse."
Now, this sounds like a press rehearsed answer, the same answer that many "broken up" band members mumble to press sharks. She smiles. "It was getting hard" she whispered, at this point i started to feel uncomfortable, here was pop royalty close to tears in a hidden London Starbucks. "We were together almost twenty four hours a day, churning out albums like on a factory line. Closer to the end the music, the music didn't feel real anymore. Simon kept pushing and well we broke."
This account isn't surprising to say the least, Simon Cowell- head of Sony Records- has an interesting past when it comes to his pop groups. Critics of the man, state that he pushes his "stars" to the point of emotional exhaustion. Bands like One Direction and Little Mix all state their poor mental health to the military like regime of being under Cowell.
"THE MUSIC DIDN'T FEEL REAL ANYMORE"
I smile and nod encouragingly, it seems like this is something that she needs to talk about. I must confess, that I was- and still am- a huge fan of Girls on Fire and was heart broken by the break up announcement: yet seeing Piper sitting in a corner, her coat still on and a sunken look in her eye, I was glad for the break up. I inquire after what she meant by "broke".
"We [ Leah, Jamillee and Keni her band mates] love each other very much, but the constant pressure and the incident started to cause arguments and a rift between us, we value our friendship- they're my sisters. It was the band or us."
Unfortunately, this story isn't uncommon: it seems like the pressure of fame is one of the biggest killers for pop bands. However, the mysterious reference to "the incident" called me- i shyly repeated the phrase back to her. "Keni's scandal.", she says this with a bitterly sarcastic tone, almost like she was repeating the words.
For any of the uninitiated, Bass Guitarist Keni Long (nee Henry) was publicly outed kissing her now wife outside a nightclub in Manchester. When I asked what she meant by scandal, Piper tightened her lips in a form of a grimace and muttered "Simon didn't want us to have our own lives, we were like American Girl dolls, we had a role and we had to stick to our script, our made up backstory."
"WE HAD TO STICK TO OUR SCRIPT, OUR MADE UP BACK STORY"
I offered her a tissue. The band had massive public back lash over this "shocking" news, tabloids hounded the girls for their statements whilst the record company was denying that the "incident" never actually happened. I apologize for making her upset. "No, no" she reassures, "I just, miss my girls."
The band formed only a year after One Direction and were all between the ages of 15 and 17- children. Seeing Piper in front of me, the weight of the world on her shoulders it hits me just how young she is. Only 23, she should be out clubbing, finishing University, making mistakes: instead she is the head of 3 large scale charities, the head of 4 social media campaigns and the face of an anti-bullying advertisement. At 23 I was throwing up in Mrs McKay's flower bushes at 4 am.
I offer sympathy and half of my chocolate muffin, she grins "I can eat what I want now, no management breathing down my neck"
We continue the interview: " What plans have you got for the future then?" I inquire. Her face lights up, the difference between her half an hour ago and now is shocking, "Well" she drawls out, hands clasping her coffee mug "I may or may not have solo work in the pipes but obviously I couldn't say anything". She grins even wider, if possible. I ask after details. "Its a LOVING record, lots of LOVE in it"- her stress on love makes me wonder: is the record coming out on Valentines Day? Is it a record dedicated to a boyfriend? Her family? The band?
Only time will tell.
