Mumba one with a bullet

Samantha Mumba giggles a hell of a lot. It’s a gorgeously giddy, girly giggle – the kind of conspiratorial chuckle typical of lots of happy-go-lucky 19-year-old girls. Not that Samantha Mumba is your typical 19-year-old girl – or rather woman (giggly tendencies aside, she comes across as remarkably mature and self-confident). She is, however, undeniably both very happy and very lucky. And lots of other things besides.

The petite, polite and oh-so-pretty, Drumcondra-born singer sitting across the table from me in an upstairs room in Dublin’s Universal offices is in the midst of a whirlwind promotional tour for ‘I’m Right Here’ – the first single to be taken from her forthcoming second album Dream With Me (a smoothly produced blend of soul, r’n’b and pop, if the first cut is representative). If we pulled up the blinds covering the window then we’d be able to see her voluptuous-looking 12 feet high image on the billboard across the street. Given that her debut album Gotta Tell You peaked at No 3 in the Billboard charts in 2000 (her arch-nemesis Christina Aguilera took the Number One position), it’s hardly surprising that no expense is being spared promoting the follow-up. And with the single going top ten soon after we meet, the omens for the album are good.

“I’m skidding all over the place at the moment,” Samantha smiles, stifling a yawn. “I just got back from Japan on Saturday, I’m going to Galway tomorrow and then I’m off to London on Wednesday, so it’s all go.

“I wished I could’ve had a lie-in this morning but otherwise life’s just great at the moment,” she beams. “I’m just having a wonderful time, all the time.”

No wonder she giggles a lot…

OLAF TYARANSEN: You’ve been spending a lot of time in Los Angeles over the past couple of years. How do you find it?

SAMANTHA MUMBA: I love it. I suppose I’m just settled there, you know. It’s great. My family love it, my friends love coming over so, you know, it’s really nice. A friend of mine, Emma, came over for the summer so we spent our summer in LA, which was really nice (giggles).

OT: What’s your daily schedule like?

SM: It always varies. People are always asking me what my schedule is like or what I’m doing, but it changes – sometimes on an hourly basis. But I still find it much more relaxed over there. I love being in places where the climate’s great anyway – that always relaxes me. I don’t feel like I’m working (laughs).

OT: Is the new album finished?

SM: I’m literally just putting the finishing touches to it now. I’m very happy with it. It’s definitely very different from the first one. Listening to the first one now, it sounds very young. I suppose I was only 15-and-a-half when I recorded it. This one is definitely a little bit older, a bit edgier. Vocally I’ve gotten a lot stronger. I understand my voice a bit better. When I was younger I didn’t have a clue. I just used to open my mouth and hope for the best. So I’ve been experimenting with different sounds on this as well. I’ve worked with the same producers as I did with the first one, and they’ve moved on a lot as well and wanted to try out new stuff.

OT: Have you written many of the new songs yourself?

SM: I actually wrote more on the first one than I did with this one, but I have got some songwriting on it, yeah.

OT: Contractually you have to write at least half of them, don’t you?

SM: Yeah, that’s my publishing deal. I like songwriting. I think that’s what I found weird with the songwriting with this album. With the first one it was way more laid back because I hadn’t had anything out so there was no pressure to have the next record out. So I was writing when I was in the mood to or when I wanted to, whereas I found it a much different ball-game to be under the pressure of knowing that I had to do something. I didn’t like that quite as much. So I’m gonna be a bit more prepared maybe for the next album, and just write it as I’m going along so I’ve got stuff stocked up.

OT: You’re already thinking ahead to the third album?

SM: Yeah (matter of factly).

OT: Is it true that you’ve been offered a part in the next Spike Lee movie?

SM: No I haven’t. I’ve had a couple of meetings with Spike and that was as far as it went. He wanted to meet me and I was in New York as well, so we hooked up. But I dunno, I’m looking at different scripts. I wanna try lots of different stuff, you know, I’m not in a huge rush. If I could have something scheduled in for this time next year, it’d be perfect.

OT: Did you enjoy making The Time Machine?

SM: It was fantastic. It was one of those things where I thought, ‘Well, even if I never ever do it again, this is once in a lifetime kind of stuff.’ Something I can show my grandchildren – or that they can see even if I’m not there. So that was really nice.

OT: The director, Simon Wells, was H G Well’s great-grandson, wasn’t he?

SM: Yeah. He was great. I think he was very nervous as well because that was a huge movie for him to do. I think he’d only done cartoon movies previously so he didn’t have much experience of huge-budget stuff. But I thought it was nice to have that connection. because really they could’ve got any director to do it. But it was nice to keep it in the family.

OT: You’ve fairly kept it in the family yourself. Your 12-year-old brother Omero starred alongside you!

SM: Yeah – I’m very family orientated (laughs). What happened was, after I did my first screen test I got asked to go back to New York and do another one. And this one was with Guy [Pearce] and the producer and director and all that kind of thing. And my mam and brother were travelling with me. And the moment they saw Omero they offered him a screen test, which he was over the moon with. And it kind of happened from there. But he got it off his own bat.

OT: Would you ever do a nude scene in a movie?

SM: No. Absolutely not! (giggles).

OT: Is that because of your convent school background?

SM: I don’t know. I guess I just don’t want my family to see me on a cinema screen… (chokes with laughter)… butt naked. Oh no, I couldn’t deal with that at all!

OT: Didn’t you once tell a friend that you’d streak naked across a soccer pitch to get your fifteen minutes of fame?

SM: I did. But I definitely wouldn’t have done it. No way (laughs).

OT: What kind of movies would you like to do?

SM: I’m not sure. Since doing The Time Machine I’ve been offered a lot of sci-fi type roles, and a lot of horror and then there’s some comedy. It’s been really varied, which is great. I think for my next movie I’d like to stay away from the sci-fi thing, I don’t wanna just throw myself in that bracket completely. But I’ll just see what I can and can’t do. It’s totally new to me, so I’m gonna start getting acting lessons and all that kind of thing. So, to answer your question, I’m really not sure.

OT: Do you have many people around you, helping you make decisions?

SM: You know, there really aren’t that many people advising me. It’s funny, people kinda get the impression that… (pauses). I can never figure out what people think of me or how they perceive it – like there’s a big team of people or something. I mean, there’s a very close knit group. I always travel with family and there’s always friends travelling. I never travel with people that I wouldn’t completely trust. So the only people whose advice I would really listen to would be family.

OT: And Louis, of course…

SM: And Louis. But he kind of comes to me for advice, more than I go to him (giggles). You know – ‘Do you think you should do this?’ So I’m very independent and ultimately I make my own final decisions. There really aren’t that many people. I wish there were more people advising me but, no, unfortunately I wind up making a lot of my own decisions. It’s not always a good thing (laughs).

OT: You’ve recently been appointed UNICEF’s Youth Ambassador for Ireland. What does that entail exactly?

SM: Oh, it’s fantastic! I’m launching a campaign called Kids Helping Kids in all the schools around Halloween time. And it’s a great project really. I think kids are great and can come up with mad and wacky ways of raising money, so they kinda have freedom to go and do whatever they can – and raise as much money as they can – and then each school will be appointed an African village.

OT: You’re going on a field trip to Zambia in the new year, aren’t you?

SM: Yeah, that’ll be my first one, and probably Sierra Leone next. But, yeah, the kids will get to see the progress, that’s the main thing. I think it’s better because, when I was in school, it was cool coming up with ideas to raise money but then it was all gone. It was like, where’s all the money gone? You just never see it again. So for them to actually see what’s happening is really good.

OT: Your dad’s from Zambia, isn’t he?

SM: Yeah. I think UNICEF liked the idea that I was half-Zambian. Because I have a lot of family there as well, and they’re in serious crisis at the moment. Zambia’s really, really suffering. So it’s a nice way to start it off I suppose. It makes it more personal.

OT: How’s your relationship with your dad at the moment? Are you still estranged?

SM: No. It’s absolutely fine. I think the fact that I’ve refused to speak about it made people think all of a sudden that we’re estranged and we don’t talk. Maybe I should just have spoken about it in the beginning but I didn’t – and I don’t really intend to. But we’re not estranged, everything’s absolutely fine. It’s the usual daughter/father relationship (laughs).

OT: Do you have large entourages?

SM: No, not really. It always depends on what I’m doing. I mean, if I’m just going to LA, it’ll be myself and my tour manager, or me and my boyfriend. If I’m doing a show it could be me and six dancers, tour manager, hair, make-up and all of that. But usually I don’t have one at all.

OT: You said in your last Hot Press interview that you’d never taken any drugs and that you were quite wary of booze because of your father’s alcoholism. Has any of that changed since LA?

SM: Not really. Again, drugs I just don’t get. They just don’t interest me personally. Each to their own, if you’re gonna do it, then fine. But it’s not my cup of tea. And yeah, I absolutely drink – but in moderation. I could go for months and not be thinking, ‘Oh I really need a drink’, but then I’ll come home and have a great night out with my friends. And have drinks. But I’d usually prefer a couple of nice bottles of wine. God, I sound like such an old woman!! (laughs).

OT: Have you spoken to Bono about your UNICEF work?

SM: No, I haven’t. I will do before I go though.

OT: Has he been supportive?

SM: Very, very supportive and very, very helpful. I think U2 are amazing as well. I mean, they’re on such a scale! And they’re the nicest people you could meet in the industry as well. There’s no bullshit with them, they just do what they do best and get on with it. There’s nothing around them, no airs, graces or pretences or anything. Which is very refreshing. I think they’re fantastic.

OT: Are you wealthy now?

SM: Em… I’m happy for somebody my age (smiles).

OT: What’s been the most rock ’n’ roll moment of your career to date?

SM: Em… I don’t think there has been one.

OT: There must have been one!

SM: Em… (pauses). I’ve got mad things with my friends, but nothing too outrageous. I was probably wilder before I was doing any of this to be honest. There hasn’t been anything too crazy. I’ve quite a boring life really. No, I’m joking!

OT: Do you feel any pressures as a supposed role model for young kids?

SM: I’m not sure. I suppose people always say, ‘Oh, you’re a role model so you’ve gotta do this and not do that’. At the end of the day, I’m obviously gonna make mistakes. I don’t think anybody’s life runs perfectly smoothly. But I think as well that people underestimate children and teenagers. I mean, they’re not stupid. Just because I say it’s cool to jump off a cliff, nobody’s gonna go and follow me. So I think kids have a lot of their own opinions – kids today anyway. But obviously I wouldn’t go out of my way to do something stupid.

OT: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given career-wise?

SM: I suppose that whole line about treating people well on the way up because you’re gonna meet them on the way down again. That’s probably too nice, isn’t it? (laughs).

Let's hear it for the boy

In her last Hot Press interview two years ago, Samantha told what she now admits was “a little white lie” when she claimed not to have a boyfriend. In fact, she has recently celebrated three years with 24-year-old Dubliner Mark Henderson. Samantha denies that it was a record company idea to keep the relationship secret.

“Absolutely not – no! Again, that was just me making my own decisions. I just liked the idea of keeping something to myself because pretty much everything I do, where I go, who I’m with, who my friends are, is always so speculated. So I just thought I’d keep that one to myself. Plus, he’s very private and he didn’t want to be reading about himself in the papers every day either. And as well as that, God, when I did that Hot Press interview we would only have been going out together for maybe a year. So I didn’t want to go proclaiming my undying love for this guy when we could have been broken up next week anyway!”

Does her fame put a lot of pressure on the relationship?

“Em… it hasn’t. I think, if anything, in a way, it’s nicer. Because we don’t get to see each other constantly, when we do it’s really, really nice and we appreciate the time. But I mean, we do spend a lot of time together. He was out in America when I was doing all my filming for the movie, and we travel a lot together. I always like to have family and friends around me. I hate experiencing it all on my own because then you come back and nobody knows what you’re talking about. So when you can share it with somebody, it makes it even better.”