Melanie Chisholm aka Sporty Spice aka Melanie C, was born 12 January 1974, a Capricorn. She high-kicked her way into our hearts in 1994 as one fifth of the Spice Girls, who went on to become the best-selling girl group in history. And she hasn’t stopped. Her most recent album, Sweat is dedicated to the dancefloor – and the joy, healing and community we can find there.
You can experience this collective joy first hand, this Sunday 15 November, when Melanie performs a special DJ set to celebrate the launch of ABSOLUT® TABASCO™ at the Beresford from 12pm ahead of her headline Sydney show at the Enmore Theatre. Come get your Sweat on with us – free entry, from midday ‘til late. More info at merivale.com
15 minutes with Melanie C:
Hi Melanie.
Hi, how are you?
I'm well, how're you?
Yeah, all good. Good to be back in Australia.
There's something really comforting about knowing that you're here. It's really nice to know that you are in our time zone.
I know it's very comforting to me too. It's been an incredible year, an incredible tour. But this is my last week and it feels quite poetic to be finishing here in this country.
A little full stop in Down Under.
Exactly. Big celebrations ahead.
It has been an incredibly huge year for you. Album, world tour, you've got a film on the way, you got married last year. How do you have the energy for it all? Is it because you're a Capricorn? What's going on?
I mean, when I look back over the year, it makes me tired looking at what I've done. But it has been amazing. And I think at times I've been living on adrenaline, but I couldn't have wished for a better 2026. It kind of all kicked off at Sydney Harbour with the fireworks and performing there. And it gave me a good feeling it was going to be a good year. I mean my artist won The Voice as well. So it's like, it's been amazing, incredible. I mean – 2027, you've got a lot to live up to.
How are you going to top it?
Do you know what, next year I feel like I'm still going to continue to perform. Obviously this album – I've done my world tour now – but I'm looking forward to doing lots of festivals next year. And it's actually a big year for my daughter. She's got some big exams. So I'm going to try and spend a bit more time at home. I want to be there to support her. So yeah, have a bit of family time as well.
Well, you've got to have balance.
You've been creating and you've created for so long, and like everything that you do is unique and fresh and so engaging – do you feel like your creative process is led by intuition? What drives you? Are you a practice-based person? Are you a play person?
You know, for me, it's all very much a need to kind of exercise things. Every record I've ever made, it's been a real reflection of that period of my life and sometimes it's been so cathartic. I've needed to do it to just be okay. And then with this album it was so much more about trying to express the joy that my work has been giving me.
I started DJing about eight years ago and I just realized I was performing so much more because not only was I going out with my band and playing shows, I was DJing at clubs and parties. And it's like, oh my gosh, I work in, you know, I work in joy. Everything I do, people are having a night out, they're enjoying themselves, they're expressing themselves on the dance floor. And I just thought, wow, I need to capture that, that feeling and make the music that represents that. So, there's been moments in my life where it's been hard and I've been very introspective and just drawing upon all of these emotions. And that's been a beautiful way to express myself. And so it's just wild to me that now it's like I'm at the other end of the spectrum and I'm having the best time and being able to express that as well.
That's amazing. I think a lot of times people think art has to come from pain or some kind of heavy emotion, but joy is so powerful. And I think we need joy now more than ever. I mean, the Spice Girls have brought me joy for 30 years.
I listened to Northern Star last night from start to finish.
Oh, it's such a great record, isn't it? It's such an amazing record.
It's a great, great record. And Sweat is so much fun! In terms of getting you on the dance floor, what's the song that if it comes on, you've got to go, you've gotta move?
This is such a bad question for me because I get in trouble with my daughter all the time because I dance to everything. [We’ll be] in a shop and she's like, mum, stop dancing. We'll be in the supermarket. Mum, stop dancing. Because I just, I find it hard to not move when music's playing.
The one thing that will always get me on a dance floor, if I'm at a family party or something, it'll be Beyonce Crazy in Love. That will get me on the dance floor. But then if I am out in the club, just everything.
Everything?
Everything.
Do you have a go-to karaoke song?
I can't say that I do. I've done a few Spice Girls songs, which to me feels like a little bit of a cheat and a bit of an out. But I don't have a specific karaoke song. I think I need to find one.
It would probably be something very inappropriate that I would absolutely butcher, like a Whitney Houston song or something like that.
I don't think doing Spice Girls is cheating. I think that's giving the people what they want.
So I have a funny story. One year for my birthday, I went out with a big group of girlfriends and we went to this little karaoke bar in Soho in London, and they have these little rooms, little booths, and the people next door were singing Spice Up Your Life. I think it was Spice Up Your Life. And Emma [Bunton] was with me. So we went into their room and took the mics and started singing. But I think they were so drunk, they didn't even realize who it was.
It's probably for the best. If that happened to me, I would have had a heart attack.
I wish I could get the CCTV back of that night because that would be so funny.
Do you have any rules for the dance floor? Like what's a no-go?
I think what I love on a dance floor is when you don’t have this whole barrier of phones. You know, it's so lovely now that there's a bit more mindfulness to not film everything. I think we've lost a little bit of that being-in-the-moment by having to document our lives. So I would definitely say yes to a little less phones. And a big no-no for me – and this drives me nuts when I go to some of the big super clubs in Ibiza, because everyone is filming everything – they don't dance. I would say what drew me to club culture is that people were letting go, people were free. They were expressing themselves. The pressure of life and everything was like physically being taken away by dancing to this music together. So to see people stood still in a nightclub when the best DJs in the world are playing drives me crazy.
I don't think that you can dance without both your hands.
I know. Puts you off balance.
What’s one thing you’d bring back from the 90s?
Well, do you know what actually, it's all connected to what we're talking about. So, of course, phones has been the biggest change in the rave. But I would say the fashion. Because we used to go out and it wasn't about how you looked. It was about how we felt. So I think, take the pressure off us all having to look super duper. You're going to sweat your makeup off anyway. So let's all just go, prepared to dance. And if we didn't have cameras, then we would feel more comfortable about just being free.
I miss having the freedom to have fashion speak directly to utility and vice versa.
Yeah, because of course you still want to express yourself in what you wear, but I think you need to be comfortable to be able to dance. It's like when my daughter wears a heel to the club and I'm like... Nah. Can't be doing that.
No, heels are for dinner. Sneakers are for dancing.
100%.
How's your relationship with the internet? Do you feel like it's a positive thing for your work and for your creativity, or is it something that you would prefer to engage with less? Or do you feel that you have a good balance?
It feels like a bit of a necessary evil in this day and age and in the industry that I work in. I love how it keeps us connected. You know, I think definitely through the pandemic, it was something I was grateful for. I did quite a lot of live q and a's and streaming DJ sets and that felt really healthy and a good way to stay in touch with the world.
I kind of hate the way that kids are addicted, because they just are, we just are as humans, aren't we? We just spend so much time scrolling. But yeah, I think like everything, there's good and bad in it. You have to discover how to make it work for you. I like the accessibility. I like being able to have the answer to everything instantly. Or music, straight away. Shazam is wonderful, but I think it can get a little bit overbearing.
Okay we only have time for one more: What is your number one rule of girlhood?
Oh. It's supporting the girls. You know, obviously being a Spice Girl goes to that.
… how do I express this properly? There's a lot of documentation that women don't support women. And I think that's absolute bullshit because, you know, I have such an incredible group of friends and other artists and we all very much support each other. I think it's something that comes maybe when you get a little bit older. I think it's quite hard in your teen years. There's always a lot of different dynamics between girlfriends. But it is the most powerful thing, and when I see my daughter's interactions with her friends and how they support each other and stand up for each other – it's such a tricky time obviously meeting, you know, boys or partners and heartbreaks and things like that. So I think your girlfriends are so important. Your girlfriends and your gay friends.
Absolutely.
Thank you for taking the time to chat and thank you for a lifetime of inspiration - I was always a Sporty Spice.
Yes ! Thank you.
Words Isabelle Webster
Sweat is out now via Red Girl Records in partnership with Virgin Music Group.
ABSOLUT® TABASCO™ Event
Sunday 15 November - Beresford, Sydney
Headline Tour
Wednesday 11 November - Astor Theatre, Perth
Friday 13 November - Northcote Theatre, Melbourne - SOLD OUT
Saturday 14 November - The Tivoli, Brisbane - MELT Festival
Sunday 15 November - Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Tickets via livenation.com.au