At home with Shelley

She might be a bit of a vixen, what with her job as a model, singer and bellydancer (don’t worry, we’ll come to that later) but 25-year-old Shelley is a kid at heart.

“I’m big into mystical goblins and fairies,” she begins, almost in embarrassment. “On my wall I have a big Boris Vallejo picture, but all the other paraphernalia I have is at home.”
The reason she lives on minimals is because she’s temporarily resident at the HQ of Religion Music in Foxrock, Dublin.
“I live in Avoca which is a bit too far to commute,” Shelley explains. “I’ve been here the last four or five months while I’ve been working on my music, but there’s little point in dragging everything up because I’m just going to have to bring it back down again at some point. So that’s the only mystical thing I’ve brought with me, because I love Vallejo’s art.”
Where does a fascination with fairies come from?
“I think it was through being an only child. When I was really little I lived on a farm, so I spent more time than I should have wandering around with my imagination on overdrive!”.
Now all grown up, her creativity has worked in her favour. Shelley signed to Religion Music after appearing on Pop Stars and turning down an offer to join Hear’Say. But, diplomat that she is, she plays down the issue.
”At the time, there was a situation,” she cryptically explains. “I went with my gut feeling, and that was to go with Religion. I wanted to be on my own, write my own stuff, and have input into what I was doing.”
A wise choice, as she’s now busy recording at their HQ/house/studio which sees producers and other Religion artists like Jive Records-signed Lesley Roy drop in and out.
“It’s massive,” she exclaims. “That’s what makes it easy to live here: if you want your own space, there’s plenty of places to hang out. There’s a massive garden I can hide in, and the living room has a projector in it so it’s like a cinema. I spend a lot of time there. I know how much I’m coming across like a big kid, but I love Disney movies. That and fantasy stuff like Lord Of The Rings and Labyrinth.”
When asked whether the proximity of her work environment keeps her switched on all the time – she’s certainly in demand, with ‘Be My Double O’ a contender for the theme tune for the next Bond film – Shelley answers in the negative.
“The studio’s right at one end and it’s soundproofed, so it doesn’t bother me at all if I’m not interested in it. That I live in the same place where everyone else works isn’t a problem for anyone else either – we’re like one big happy family.”
Although one aspect that her colleagues probably weren’t aware of when she moved in is her constant ability to pass the How Clean Is Your House test with flying colours.
“My friends say that I’ve got OCD,” she laughs. “I’m just not comfortable if I’m surrounded by mess. But actually that makes me a great person to live with. If I’m at a friend’s and they run out to the shops for 10 minutes, they come back finding the place spic and span. Now, they say: ‘No need to clean it this week. Shelley’s over’.”
While her tidiness is no doubt aided by having only the bare essentials in Foxrock, as she was voted the runner up as the best dressed lady at the Galway Races we assume her wardrobe is crammed full of neatly-folded apparel?
“No, I just end up taking loads of clothes back and forth when I go back home,” she informs me. “I do have a lot though. I went to the Galway Races specifically for the best dressed competition in fact, so I was really pleased with the result. The dress I wore was one I bought from Debenhams, but I had to go all over the country looking for an umbrella to match it. I went to Waterford and Wexford, but I only found the perfect one in Galway when I got there.”
Other choice pieces of clothing that she’s left with her mother are her bellydancing costumes.
“My favourite one is purple and just hanging with jewels. I’ve been dancing since I was 20 and lived in Turkey for a year so I’ve built up quite a collection. Most of them are getting pretty old though – even bellydancing costumes go through fashions!”
Yet anyone who passes off Shelley as a girly-girl would be sadly mistaken. With her Wicklow home occupied by just her mother and herself, she’s learnt to perform the traditional male tasks like gardening and DIY.
“I’ve even got my own drill,” she says proudly. Question is, is she any good?
“Well I’ve only been in Avoca for three years, and everything’s still on the wall and standing straight, so I’d consider that a success!”