Band of the Week: Tiffany Page

Like many glitter-dazzled, music-loving girls, Tiffany Page had a childhood dream to be a rock star like Courtney Love. Now aged just 23, not only is the guitar-toting singer-songwriter getting ready to release her debut album 'Walk Away Slow,' she has just bagged a slot supporting her idol, when Hole play three UK dates this May. Spinner caught up with the London-based powerpop ingénue in between shows on her first full-length headline UK tour -- and she still can't believe her luck.

"Oh my God, Courtney Love is one of the reasons I ever wanted to be in a band," the classically trained Page exclaims. "When I found out about the shows, I went out and got absolutely hammered! I got really drunk, it was a bit like, what is going on!" Page explains how she nearly met Love previously but, due to illness, missed her chance. "She actually came to my gig at the Garage in London and I was really ill so I had to cancel -- apparently she came down to see me play and turned up at the venue -- but I wasn't there! I was gutted to hear that, but then I was so relieved I still got the tour support sorted," she says.

Tracks like 'Heaven Ain't Easy,' 'Out of Mind' and 'Police' on Page's debut are classic '90s grunge rock given a modern synth twist, and she readily admits it's exactly the sound she was aiming for. "What I think I sound like is influenced by bands I've been brought up listening to, and bands that I've listened to myself. Grungey bands and stuff like that" she says. "I don't know if that's because I feel I can relate to them, maybe something to do with me having a croaky voice or something! Everyone says that I sound kind of like Chrissie Hynde, which is really cool. My music is pop-rock. If someone says 'what do you sound like?' I say I've been told it's like the Pretenders."

A former opera student, Page cites her influences as "normal teenage-angsty bands like Queens of the Stone Age, Hole, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, R.E.M. and bands like Babes in Toyland and L7 -- I was very into female fronted bands." She adds quickly, "I would never go back to opera. I can still sing quite high but I smoke far too much. I'm much more -- my voice is much more -- suited to rock."

Playing guitar since her 14th birthday, Page says in retrospect, it was fateful that she wasn't bought the drum kit she'd asked for. She recalls, "I actually really badly wanted to play drums, but my mum said it was too loud and so she bought me a guitar instead. She said, 'There you go, you can travel the world with it.' That's the only reason I started playing guitar. I think guitar was a good instrument for me in the end, because when I went on holiday I could just take it with me and practice."

That same guitar also met its end in a rather rock 'n' roll fashion, as Page remembers. "I actually broke it, I threw it down the stairs accidentally. It was this weird OCD thing where I really felt like throwing it up in the air and catching it. It ended up broken, and right before a school concert as well. My mum was so annoyed."

Having learned some lessons whilst touring, Page says she's "growing up a lot," and is already trying to curb any drunken excesses. She reflects, "I really don't think there's any such thing as a rock 'n' roll lifestyle now, because you will exhaust yourself if you go out drinking every night. One night on the Noisettes tour (Page supported last year) we went out drinking and got hammered, and the next gig was possibly the hardest gig I've ever done. I really don't know how Motley Crue did it night after night."

Getting back to the music, Page says she's "proud" of her debut album, which she co-wrote with songwriters in Los Angeles. However, she is already thinking ahead and is ready to take her next songs to the next level -- and make them even rockier. She enthuses, "I'm really chuffed, really happy with how it's turned out. I never thought in my life I'd actually have an album made or actually have anything played on the radio or be on TV, it's really weird. I think it's also given me the option, and set the bar, for the next one to go slightly heavier. I'd like to experiment as well and as I get better at songwriting, I'd like to properly learn to produce. I'm really looking forward to having more control."

For now, Page has already made her teen dreams come true, with her gravelly, cigarette-fuelled vocals putting her at the forefront of the next wave of female-fronted bands. The comparisons with Hynde are slightly wide-of-the-mark, but all the same, there is a playful bite beneath the surface of her songs.

Tiffany Page's debut album 'Walk Away Slow' is set for release on June 21 through Mercury. Single 'On Your Head' comes out on May 24. She also plays this year's Great Escape festival on May 15 in Brighton and Glastonbury on the Queen's Head stage on June 25. For more info, go to her official website.