Shelley

Since officially forming in early 2009, the girls named the group UnderGrounD-“it stuck for us because the word itself is about a movement, it encompasses such variety, it’s limitless; we didn’t want to create any boundaries, we just wanted to create.”
Founding member, Andrea Nicole spent her early years between Malta and New Zealand where her mother and father are from respectively. “It was a little over three years ago – Ireland was entering the biggest recession our generation had known – I had been living in Dublin and had spent years working with the underground hiphop scene, had toured as a backing singer for a couple of American and UK Hiphop acts – but things were slow – jobs were scarce, people were leaving the country – I was either going to jump ship to get work or make music work!”
Originally from Arkansas in the States, Zoe moved to Ireland in 2004. Daughter to an Ecuadorian father and an American Mother, Zoe had grown up with gospel choirs and church and upon moving to Ireland, joined a local dance group. “I met with Zoe and she resurrected my belief in what I was doing – it was right – she was talent, she was dedicated and she believed in the idea from the get go. The girls met up a couple of times a week – Zoe’s sitting room was our first practice space.”
After a number of weeks – the girls set about looking for a third member. Shelley had been quite a well known figure in the Irish Music Scene, she had been signed to an independent label and had chart success, a professional belly dancer and model – Shelley fit the bill in more ways than one – “but her determination is what spoke volumes to us” – having come so close to solo success, Shelley’s career was cut short when she was diagnosed with illness; Upon making a full recovery - UnderGrounD became a second chance. The line-up now complete, UnderGround have been working towards their goals and dreams since.
Recently, members of the girlgroup have worked alongside artists such as Tyga –from Lil Wayne’s Label Young Money, Chris Brown, Flo Rida, Shaggy, Shayne Ward, X-Factor contestant Eoghan Quigg and Electro pop sensation Basshunter; performing both in The Odyssey Arena, Belfast and the O2, Dublin as well as various venues around Ireland and the UK Club circuit.
This summer, UnderGrounD will play The Summer Blowout 2010 alongside artists such as Alexandra Burke, Razorlight and N-Dubz. Andrea Nicole:- “We haven’t had big money investment or financial security since day 1 – we’ve worked our nine to six by day to pay the rent and we’ve stayed in studio until three, four in the morning recording, dancing, practicing – you could go a couple of days without sleep but it doesn’t stop.” This hard work is not going unnoticed, however, and the girls have just been nominated for Best New Girl Group at the Irish Entertainment Awards which takes place in October, which they will also perform at.
The three-piece harmony girl group are working countless hours in the studio with various producers and artists on their sound; a fusion of universal influence drawn from the diverse and vibrant backgrounds of the three girls who hail from both sides of the Atlantic.
Andrea Nicole: “We work hard but we do it simply because music and creating new sounds gives us pleasure so if that’s what we love why not try a make a go of it. There is so much we would like to achieve with UnderGrounD; so we will continue to work hard and continue to remain focused until our time comes.”