‘I did receive bottles on stage. There might have been urine’: Melanie C on Spice Girls mania, impostor syndrome and her date with a Chili Pepper | Melanie C

Your acid remix of Jessie Ware’s Free Yourself was a bit unexpected, I admit. Were you a hardcore raver back in the early 90s? Coopertapes
I absolutely was. I discovered raving on my first holiday without parents, just me and three of the girls I was at college with. This was the first environment I’d been in where I heard house music and everyone was dancing, and really expressing themselves. I was like, “Oh my God, I’ve found my people.” That’s where I got the bug. Then we’d also go to a club in Essex called Berwick Manor. I also remember going to the Cross, which was in King’s Cross. It was such a tiny little window of my late teens because the Spice Girls happened so quickly after it. I’d almost compartmentalised it and left it behind until I started DJing eight years ago.

Once the Spice Girls started and your schedule was much tighter, were you ever able to go out like that again? laurasnapes
Absolutely not. That was the thing, although all of my wildest dreams were coming true through being part of the Spice Girls, real life was put on hold. The schedule was brutal. There was very little time for socialising. Also, you remember those times in the 90s, right? The tabloid media and paparazzi were on you like a hawk. So we were terrified. Anything we ever did was usually published in a newspaper, so in our downtime we tried to keep it low key.

Your tattoos were famous in their own right. How did you feel about them at the time, and how do you feel about them now? McrSimon
I always wanted tattoos. I think I was probably one of the first women who was in the public eye with very visible and big tattoos. Now more people have them than don’t. It’s incredible. But yeah, I absolutely love them. It’s a strange relationship you have with your body and your image when you’re young and in the public eye. Because being a pop star, it’s almost like you feel you need to create this image which is worthy of being that thing, and to me having the gold tooth and having the tats made me look a bit less ordinary. I actually got my first tattoo when I was with the [Spice] girls. We were together in LA and we went to a tattoo shop called Tattoomania. We didn’t get any recommendations – we picked tats off the wall.

When the Spice Girls conquered America, did you have any amusing incidents where your regional accent confused hapless interviewers across the pond? BritishUkrainian
It’s so interesting because even now, being in America – and it drives my daughter mad – it’s like we’re speaking a foreign language sometimes when you’re trying to order things in restaurants. But back in the day on TV we made a conscious effort to try to speak slower or clearer. I don’t think we were ever subtitled like the Gallaghers.

What did you think of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song Emit Remmus? SmilinPeter
Well, this is a great story. I was working with Rick Rubin in LA. He produced a couple of tracks on [Melanie’s 1999 solo debut album] Northern Star and he’s obviously worked with the Chili Peppers and was a great friend of [frontman] Anthony Kiedis for many, many years. Rick looked at me with a cheeky grin and went: “Have you heard the song that Anthony’s written about you?”

Whenever Rick would finish mixing anything he’d go out and listen to it in his Rolls-Royce. He took me out to it and he played me Emit Remmus and I was a little bit embarrassed because it’s a bit saucy. But I was so flattered because I’m a huge Red Hot Chili Peppers fan and Anthony is such an incredible songwriter and performer. Were we in a relationship? We did go on a date. We spent a little bit of time together. But it wasn’t a fully formed relationship. Being in LA was a magical time. I also had dinner with Madonna there at the end of the Spiceworld tour in 1998. We’d finished the US leg of the tour and I was staying at the Four Seasons. I got a call and somebody went, “I’ve got Madonna for you.” And I was thinking, “Yeah, yeah, it’s probably Mel [B].” And she went, “Hey, sweetie.” She was lovely. She’s been so supportive of us girls.

If you were an actual spice, which one would you be, and why? TopGyre
This is like a Smash Hits question. I’m really proud of all the different things I’ve done in my career. You know, obviously working in musical theatre as well as music and becoming a DJ, bit of telly, bit of radio. So I think I’m quite versatile. Maybe like a five spice? A little bit of everything. Let’s go with that.

Will the Spice Girls own up to stealing the ‘girl power’ phrase from Shampoo? iteraryrose
Well, I’m surprised this question doesn’t come up more often because, obviously, we are all aware that Shampoo had a single called Girl Power way back in 1996 [it reached No 25]. I don’t really remember how we ended up going with it. But we loved Shampoo. We were big fans.

What was the moment when you knew life would never be the same again? CatzPyjamas
It was when we got back from Japan in 1996. Wannabe was released in the UK and went in at No 3. We’d already been on Surprise Surprise with Cilla Black and I thought everyone would recognise me the next day. I went to the shops and no one batted an eyelid. I was very disappointed. Then we went to Japan for two weeks and in the meantime Wannabe went to No 1 and stayed there. So when we came back, everything had changed. There were fans at the airport. That was when Spice mania really hit.

Salt and pepper chips or scouse? id1983
It’s going to have to be scouse [a hearty, meaty stew]. It’s a dish that if I smell it, it immediately takes me back to my childhood. Mum generally has one on the stove when I go home. You can get chips anywhere, but you can only get proper scouse in Liverpool. But do you know what’s funny? I’ve never made it. Recently I’ve been thinking about getting my mum to teach me.

I have a memory of being at a festival in the 90s and you singing Anarchy in the UK but singing, ‘I am an antichrist. I am a sporty spice’. Did I dream this? ApolausticAndy
This happened. When I was in LA doing Northern Star, I met Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols. At the time, he was in a band called the Neurotic Outsiders and they had a residency at the Viper Room. They’d play every week and invite people to go on stage. People like Billy Idol would get up and one week they got me up and I did a couple of Sex Pistols songs. So I incorporated it in my set. That was actually V99. So that person wasn’t dreaming. [That festival] was a baptism of fire. I went in completely and utterly naively and I did receive quite a few bottles … there might have been some urine.

In hindsight, do you regret the lyrics: ‘I couldn’t live without my phone, but you don’t even have a home’? subsub
No, absolutely not. And when I wrote that [on 2000 single If That Were Me], it was a bit niche. Now, it’s really freaking true. So I have no regrets. There have been moments in my personal life when I’ve felt lacking in confidence and sometimes that’s come through musically, so I regret that. But not on this new record [Sweat, out this week]. DJing has completely changed my life. It brings me so much joy. It reconnects me with that 17-year-old who used to go out raving. I get the opportunity to play the music I love. I dance my socks off and I get paid. It’s bloody brilliant.

How strong are you? How much can you bench press, for example. Girgensohn
Oh, I’ve got this in my phone, actually. Let’s have a look; so my barbell bench press is 38kg and dumbbell is 40kg. Is that something I’ve always done? I had an incident when I was at school. I was quite skinny as a kid and there was a girl who took a dislike to me and tried to beat me up. She didn’t succeed. But I asked my dad for a weight bench that year for Christmas from Argos. So that’s when I started my strength training journey because I just thought: “I want to be able to handle myself.”

Do you ever get a feeling of impostor syndrome regarding the career you have had, and do you think you will ever shake off the ‘sporty’ tag, or do you even want to? bluelambretta
I think all humans have impostor syndrome, and if you don’t you’re a psychopath. It’s just a part of human nature. When I released Northern Star, I was really determined to be seen as an individual, and I did want people to see there was more to me than just Sporty Spice. I was frustrated that people weren’t ready for the Spice Girls to be solo artists. I completely accept that now, and I love Sporty Spice, and realise it’s such a huge part of who I am as a performer.

Would you have liked the Spice Girls to share a stage with Salt-N-Pepa? Could be a good idea now that you’re all seasoned campaigners. PeteTheBeat
Very good. I love Salt-N-Pepa. I remember going to a Spice Girls meeting, before we had management, listening to them. I was trudging the streets of London, rapping in my head. So it would be awesome for the Spice Girls and Salt-N-Pepa to get together. They do have a DJ, Spinderella, so we could go back-to-back.