Start Here

"I've put a spell over you"

Those were the words with which Marie Digby (pronounced Mariyeh) entered into the hearts of Smallville fans. However before her song "Spell" was seen on Wrath, Marie was known as the girl who had covered Rihanna's smash hit and much played single "Umbrella" on Youtube. The video was very popular and it boasts of over 3 million views to date. Marie's charm and talent wowed millions of viewers and it even captured the attention of MTV who offered to feature the song in the season premiere of "The Hills".

Marie was frustrated with the lack of promotion and so she turned to Youtube to help her do that. To this day she continues to add covers and original songs on her Youtube account, the recent one being "What I've Done" by Linkin Park. Her warm musical style also reflects on her personality in her videos as she shows us her home in Japan while thanking people for the support they have shown her.

Taking a popular song and simply with the help of an acoustic guitar and her enchanting voice, she turns that club favorite into a rather heart warming track that you could listen to over and over again. That's the spell of Marie Digby, a spell that enchanted a lot of Smallville viewers and we all here at SvPH hope that she continues to weave her magic around millions others.

We are greatly thankful that she took off some of her valuable time to speak to us and we hope you will enjoy reading it.



Everybody wants to know, how did Smallville find out about you? And how did you get your music included in the show?
Sometimes music supervisors directly contact me on YouTube or MySpace. For instance, with The Hills, the supervisor emailed me and that's how I got the placement. But with Smallville, the music supervisor contacted my record label and acquired the song through them.

How did you get into music?
Music is my lifeline... I listen when I'm happy, sad, bored, angry... Couldn't imagine living without it. I began writing my own music when I was about 15 because I was going through some rough times in school. A lot of people choose to go to therapy or write in journals, I just turned to songwriting instead.

Your acoustic version of Rihanna's 'Umbrella' was featured in the third season premiere episode of MTV's The Hills. Did any other show feature any of your other songs?
The music supervisor for The Hills has been very supportive of my music! He's already used two songs and there's a chance he may use more. I feel very lucky because that show has a huge audience. Other than that, the only other time my music has been featured is in a Lifetime movie called Dive Off Clausen's Pier.

Your tour will ended at a sold-out show at The Troubadour in Los Angeles last November 16th. Any more shows after that?
I'm sure I'll be doing TONS of shows through the rest of the year and into the new year. I love performing.. I believe the next goal is to do a small west coast tour hitting the cities where I have started to create a fanbase.

Your EP "Start Here" features four songs including your smash hit 'Umbrella'. Why did you choose to do 'Umbrella'? Tell us the about the other songs in the EP.
A lot of people ask me why I chose to cover Umbrella and my answer is, there wasn't too much thought behind it ! (laughs) I just heard it on the radio one day and decided to see if I could play it on the guitar when I got home... just out of curiosity. Once I figured out the chords, I made that video.. and I never expected it would have this kind of reaction!

On the EP, I also have two original songs of mine 'Unfold' and 'Stupid for You'. The whole EP was recorded very simply and almost every song is just one take of me singing and playing at the same time. The goal was to make the EP sound pretty similar to my videos so we recorded them they way I make my videos.

We heard your debut album is scheduled to be released February 2008. Is it already done or are you still recording? What can we expect from the album? Will 'Spell' be in the album?
The record is slated to be out early next year... Most of it is finished. There are a few final touches we are working on and the artwork for it still isn't finished. Spell will definitely be on there.. it's one of my favorite songs!

Do you write all your songs? What instruments do you play?
I do write all of my songs but I have no problems with singing songs that I haven't written as long as it speaks to me... My primary instrument is the piano but I also love playing the acoustic guitar.



The videos you post in YouTube, are you the only one who records them or you got a camera guy? Where do you usually take the videos?
It's just me when it comes to the Youtube videos! One time, I got my sister to help me out.. that's the 'Stupid for You' video where my dog comes into the shot in the beginning. I have a Macbook which comes with a built in camera so all I have to do is press record in my iMovie.. it's just so easy for me to make these videos.

Did you get a chance to watch the episode yet? What do you think of it?
I haven't had a chance to see the whole episode but I did see a clip that a fan sent me on YouTube. I thought the placement for 'Spell' was incredible! The scene couldn't have been more perfect..

Did you watch the show before your music got featured in it? Who is your favorite character in Smallville?
You know, I'm embarrassed to say that I have never seen 'Smallville' before. I hardly watch television in general! But my dad likes it.

When you were a child, did you like Superman? Who is your favorite superhero?
I think that Superman is a superhero that a lot of young boys look up to, mine was JEM. It was a very popular TV show when I was a kid, I thought she was amazing - maybe that's the secret inspiration for me to become a musician.

Oh and, where can we get your EP?
My EP is only available through iTunes but my album will be available everywhere!



We hope you all enjoyed reading the interview as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. Smallville PH would like to thank Marie for sparing us some of her time to talk to us even though she was already at the airport and about to board the plane at that time. We would also like to wish her great success on her tour and upcoming debut album.