(From left to right: Mihka, Emla, Rosie, Lisa)

It’s great to see an all girl act. How did you all meet and how long have you guys been playing for?
Emla: Lisa and I have known each other since we were about 2 years old. We grew up together & both wanted to be musicians.
Lisa and Rosie were friends at high school and wanted to start a band, so Lisa introduced me. We started a band under the name 'Starlett' & it became something we loved doing - just hanging out in the music room at school & playing music.
We met Mihka when we moved to Auckland about 2 years ago and instantly fell in love with her musical abilities and awesome ideas; together we became Ivy Lies.

You reinvented your band image and name from Starlett to Ivy Lies  - where did you get the inspiration for your new band name?
Lisa: “Starlett” was a bit of an immature name, we had it when we were 16, and I think (hope) we have grown up a bit since then.
Ivy Lies is still feminine but a lot stronger sounding, there isn't really a very interesting story behind it, maybe we should make something up??!!

What kind of music did you grow up listening to? Any guilty pleasures?
Emla: I grew up listening to all kinds of music, my dad played a lot of Gene Pitney, Neil Young, The Pogues , Neil Diamond & Willie Nelson. So a lot of the stuff I listened to was what my dad listened to all the time! My favourite was Buddy Holly.
Mihka: I listened to lots of Motown, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. Like most young girls in the 90s, I loved Spice Girls, and my girlfriends and I dressed up like them... there are photos somewhere.

Who are your favourite artists to listen to at the moment?
Emla: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, White Lies, The Veils, Against Me, Sparta, Alice In Chains
Mihka: Paramore, Ladyhawke, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Tegan and Sara.

You recently recorded your debut album in LA.
How did you end up working with Clif Magness & what was that experience like for you as a band?
Mihka: We were introduced to Clif through our manager, Matt Coleman. Clif was awesome to work with - really encouraging, supportive and inspiring.

The experience was intense. Being in each others faces the whole time and writing/recording an album so quickly made our time there seem quite surreal.

We all really miss being there because for a month we were doing what we love the most full-time - and we wish it was like that all the time.  

What’s one of the biggest challenges about being in a band?
Mihka: Currently, our biggest challenge is our muscles being in pain from going crazy on our video shoot for our new single!

What would you say to kids who are thinking about starting a band?
Mihka: Buy your parents ear plugs so they'll be more likely to take you to your gigs. And listen to a really wide variety of music.

Any Ivy Lies gigs or upcoming events we should keep an eye out for?
You can see us online at the The Non-Stop Gig on the C4 website, www.c4tv.co.nz/thenonstopgig (we played on December 6).
We're also playing the Coca-Cola Bands on the Beach Tour from 27 Dec 2009 -Jan 2010 with Midnight Youth and Dane Rumble.

Catch Ivy Lies at any one of their upcoming shows!
• 27 and 28 December 2009 - Mt Maunganui Beach
• 29 and 30 December 2009 - Williamson Park, Whangamata
• 1 and 2 January 2010 - Midway Beach Gisborne
• 5 and 6 January 2010 - Tahunanui Beach Nelson
• 9 and 10 January 2010 - Piha Beach Auckland

And buy their new single Addicted from itunes

Check out Ivy Lies new video for single Addicted on their MySpace Page: www.myspace.com/ivylies