With a sold-out concert to perform in the coming days and a guest appearance on the official Coca Cola World Cup single, Ira Losco finds some time to chat with Michael Bugeja about selfies, her latest single and music video and why she’s looking forward to the concert on Friday.
It is highly unlikely that there are any photographers in Malta who haven’t yet taken a picture or six of Ira Losco, not to mention the thousands taken by fans at her concerts.
Yet, Malta’s pop princess isn’t averse to upping the quota by posting selfies. She laughs when I ask her about it, assuring me it’s no obsession with vanity or anything like that. Actually, as it turns out, it’s really all a bit of fun and self-promotion all rolled into one.
“I know some people might think I’m obsessed with image, but I’m really not,” she reaffirms. “That said, one has to keep in mind that in this business image is important, so if a selfie helps bring people to my fan site, then where’s the harm in that?”
No harm at all and, as she points out, she was more than happy to post her no make-up selfie and support the breast cancer awareness online campaign. “Like many others, I wanted to do my bit and, funnily enough, of all the selfies I’ve posted, that was the one that got the most likes. Not that I’m counting, of course,” she adds with a cheeky grin.
At this stage of her career, I point out she doesn’t really need to rely on Facebook likes to gauge her standing. After all, isn’t selling out Pjazza Teatru Rjal in the space of a few days, and the overwhelming response to her role as co-presenter at this year’s Eurovision Malta Song Contest, a strong enough indication of her popularity?
“I was a bit sceptical about co-presenting the event in the beginning,” she admits. “Whenever I touch the Eurovision I feel a sort of pressure.”
She explains that, after some thought, she decided to go for it. “I wanted to approach it from a different angle, wearing a creative director’s cap and putting in my input.”
Having a hands-on role, she felt comfortable that the way it came across to the public truly reflected her personality.
“In the end, it turned out to be a very enjoyable experience. I must admit it did feel good when some people posted online, asking if they could vote for me.”
This, of course, wasn’t possible, but she feels it confirms she – and co-host Gianluca Bezzina – did their job well.
Such positive feedback from her fans isn’t exactly new to Losco. She feels lucky that her fans have supported her all these years, even when she threw a curve-ball with the highly eclectic nature of The Fire album.
“I’m obviously pleased it was so well-received,” she tells me. “In a way it reminded me of the Accident Prone album, during which I was still finding myself vocally and songwriting-wise.”
Though primarily rooted in pop-rock, that album had also fielded a mix of crunchy guitar songs, ballads and some acoustic numbers. In similar fashion, the idea for The Fire was to explore a wider spectrum of sounds and styles.
The album’s eclectic nature is an extension of my personality
“I’m multi-faceted as a person, so the album’s eclectic nature is an extension of my personality.”
This never say never philosophy has presented Losco with some great opportunities over the years, the latest of which being an invitation to feature on The World Is Ours, alongside ex-X Factor finalist David Correy and top Brazilian act Monobloco.
“The song is Coca Cola’s theme for the 2014 World Cup. I’m quite excited at taking part.” The guaranteed exposure and airplay the song will get should bring about further opportunities for the Maltese artist but, as always, she won’t be sitting around waiting until that happens.
“Believe me there are lots of other plans to take care of,” she assures me, the most imminent of these being her live concert on Friday night, which will see her take the stage with her biggest band line-up to date.
“I believe the live aspect is the most important part of being a musician,” she says by way of re-iterating the concert’s significance.
She insists it’s not enough to just write a song that a lot of people like. “With anything I do, music especially, I tend to get deeply involved. And so is it with this concert. The way I present myself – and I don’t mean the look – is very important.”
The presentation she’s referring to is the set list.
“It will be so much more than the songs you’ve heard me play before,” she continues. “We’ve tweaked the songs and, obviously, the guests will play an important part too.”
Apart from the extended band behind her, Losco will be joined by Winter Moods frontman Ivan Grech, Gianluca Bezzina, internationally-acclaimed beatboxer Dana McKeon, singer-songwriter Alex Alden and Italian artist Irene Fargo.
With the concert just days away, I ask her what’ll be next. “We’ll be releasing a new single in the coming days, which I can exclusively reveal will be Shouldn’t Have to Bother”.
Markedly different from The way It’s Meant To Be and Me Luv U Long Time, the new single will be the fifth lifted off The Fire.
“I wanted a summer song that people would sing along to. It’s a fun and easy-going song that really turned out the way I imagined it.” There is the music video for the single still to do, which she says will be very different to the ones she’s done so far. She assures me that there are a lot of things on the go but cannot divulge them just yet.
“It’s a lot of hard work, but fun,” she admits. “I hope you enjoy my music as much as I enjoy making it.”
Ira Losco & Friends will be held on Friday at 8.30pm at Teatru Rjal, Valletta. For more information, look up the Ira Losco in Concert event page on Facebook.