Last week we had the pleasure to speak with Charleene Rena, currently known best as the face and voice of the Rudenko single Everybody, released in Europe earlier this month. What we found was no clueless one hit wonder.

How did you get into music?

It’s always been something I’ve been wanting to do, from experimenting with girl bands to becoming a solo artist. So it’s always been my dream it’s always been something I’ve wanted to do and I just kept going and pursued it.

A lot of amateur artists try to get management without much success how did you manage to get your first representation?

Well I was really lucky. I just think I’ve been really lucky through the whole process because I’ve never gone out and really looked for management, and I never even looked into what type of management I would need. I sort of lucky stumbled across my manager who happens to be well I think one of the best managers around and she actually scouted me. I was doing dancing at the time and was featuring in a music video which got quite big in the end and they sort of approached me and asked me what I did and if I sung and yes I did and then from there it was history. So luckily they found me.

The Uniting Nations music video [Out of Touch], how did you come to be involved with that?

While I’ve been pursuing singing and well everyone knows when you first start there’s no money in it so I had to do things that were going to make me money and finance me through university as well. I took up modelling and dancing on the side and the Uniting Nations video the director cast me for that so I did have to audition and then I got selected as one of the four girls to be in the video. I ended up being the main feature but that wasn’t decided until I got on set and everyone saw me dance.

What was the shoot like itself?

The shoot was a long day, but it was definitely fun. The director I worked with is one of my favourite directors that I’ve ever worked with and the girls were great. It was a tame shoot so it wasn’t anything extraneous. It was one of the most relaxing ones I’ve ever done even though it was a long day.

Did you expect the video to be such a huge success?
You know, I actually didn’t. It’s a very simple concept, it’s tongue-in-cheek and it’s been around the whole strip poker kind of thing before so you didn’t expect it to explode as big as it did. But then it was everywhere, anywhere you went there it was, every club or pub you went to the video was playing and the song was on the radio so it did take me by surprise.

You played a role in Quantum of Solace, how did you come to be in a bond movie?

I was cast, they approached my agent and asked if I would come in for a reading so I ended up going in. I wasn’t told what sort of role it was or who I would be playing. There weren’t many girls at all selected for this one because it was just the main bond girl that the focus was on. So I ended up going in and doing a reading and got cast the part as a small featured role as Felix Leiter’s girlfriend in the film for the evening, so that was good fun.

It’s something good for the CV isn’t it?

Yes, its part of a lot of girl’s dreams to even say they were on the bond set, let alone to be cast in the movie so its definitely one of those wish list boxes I can tick off.

How did you come to be involved with Rudenko?

Again, they found me it was through the wonderful world of MySpace. I love MySpace I’m a really big networker and that’s how I sort of made my name and myself as a brand. I’ve built my fan base on their which I think is about 25,000 and Rudenko actually found me on MySpace and approached me and told me about the project and the rest was again history. It was a no brainer its [Everybody] an amazing song and he’s such a talented producer so I was very happy to jump onboard.

Where did you film the video?

Norway, it was beautiful. I didn’t get to see much of it which was a shame because it was literally get there, rehearsal, have dinner, wake up, do the video and next morning get on a plane and get home.

How many days did it take?

It was only a one day shoot but overall we were there for two days.

You have a strong on-screen persona in the Everybody video, how similar is that to you in real life?

Well that’s me, I don’t try to be something that I’m not I’m very feisty, I embrace my sexuality I’m aware that I have a sexy presence and I use that to my advantage. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. If you’ve got it you don’t have it for very long so you should flaunt it but obviously in a very tasteful way and I make sure that I do that and I do have my boundaries. That is me; I am very confident and very out there so I wasn’t trying to be something I’m not in the video.

What kind of music do you personally prefer?

I do the music that I listen to and I grew up listening to Kylie, Madonna, Britney now I listen to the likes of Gwen Stefani, Lady Gaga, Robyn, MIA and I used to listen to Blondie so it’s very much pop dance electro artists which is what I’ve gone into myself so obviously the influences have driven me to the type of music I do today.

How do you feel about the importance of online publicity?

I feel it’s very important, I’m a big networker on the social sites like Facebook and MySpace I communicate to my fans through there and I think it’s very important. I get tons of fan mail every day and I respond as much as I can and through prior interviews also online it’s a very big part of who I am.

Do you think it’s harder for UK artists to ‘make it big’ than US artists?

I think it was yes, but I think the industries changing as we speak and if you look at our top 10 now Lily Allen’s number 1, Alesha Dixon’s number 3 and we have the likes of so many other artists who are in our charts now and are even breaking America. So it was, I feel there always was the comparison to American artists like she’s the British Beyoncé or she’s the British so and so but now I think everyone has their own individuality so I think American artists and America itself is starting to respect the UK and UK artists. So I think there is a big door that has opened and while that door is open I will be rushing through it.

Do you expect to try for America in the future?

That is part of the plan, the plan is world domination, the UK is such a small part of the world, it’s obviously where I’m from so it’s where I will start to build my fan base but my plans are definitely worldwide so American is definitely in the plan as well.

As they say, it’s where the money is.

It’s where the money is and it’s also a passion of mine so unless the whole world is listening to my music and singing my songs I won’t rest.

What do you do for recreation?

At the moment it’s so limited because I’m pretty much living the dream. I enjoy my dance rehearsals I enjoy working out and keeping fit and also song writing it was one of my hobbies before I started in music and now it’s part of my job so that’s also quite therapeutic. One of my other activities that I like to get away from it all is shopping like every other girl does. That’s about it, I love to go out and socialise I love to dance so it’s all pretty much what’s included in my job anyway so I’m quite lucky in that way.

Are you into videogames?

I was at a young age but I don’t get any time to do anything like that anymore. I do have a Nintendo Wii so I will occasionally jump on that with my younger siblings but other than that not really no.

You’re out touring at the moment, how’s that going?

The tours going really well, fingers cross so far every performance has been great, every crowd and town have been amazing. So far it’s been a great experience and I’ve met so many different people from different places and there hasn’t been one complaint about anything I’ve done so far.

What’s next for you after the tour?

Well I am in the midst of making my debut album, so while I’m not touring and on the road I am in the studio and recording with a lot of pop producers at the moment. So it’s just putting the album together getting the debut album ready. I’m also working on the next single I don’t know when it will be or what it will be but that is one of the main things were focusing on and obviously the tour were expecting it to go on a little bit longer. It’s expected to take a few good months so yes it’s the album which is the next step and more live performances.

We would like to thank Charleene and her representatives for making this interview possible.