“We got ‘Ready to Go’ and the first thing that comes into my head was, ‘We’ve gotta have a follow-up!’ ‘Cause that’s pop and rock music, you have to have a follow-up,” Saffron explained during the interview. “And it just came to me in a dream actually because we had the chords… I went to the studio and went, ‘My ex-boyfriend lies. He does it every time.’ And Johnny Male, my co-writer… he’s like, ‘Oh my God, Saff, you’ve got it, you’ve got it, you’ve got it! Quick, record it!’”
Reflecting on the track’s enduring legacy during the band’s 30th anniversary celebrations, Saffron admitted it remains her personal favorite: “Most of the lyrics and composition came to me in a dream, and also it personally means such a lot to me.”
The candid interview covers three decades of Republica’s history, from Saffron’s early days blagging her way into Starlight Express—”I wanted to be in Hot Gossip or a rock star!”—to their nerve-wracking first performance at the Royal Albert Hall. Recalling a pre-show visit from The Clash’s Mick Jones, she shared his crucial advice: “He just said, ‘Saff, you’ve got it.
You’ve got potential, but you need to write some more songs!’ And do you know what? It’s like all you need is one person to say you can do it.”
Saffron also recounted a chaotic live gig in Transylvania where she tore her ACL jumping off a drum riser, faced a dubious local medic, and was offered a trip to a forest rave via stretcher.
Republica are currently celebrating their 30th anniversary with a UK tour across independent grassroots venues and a special double-vinyl release featuring their debut album alongside an unreleased live performance opening for Paul Weller. The full interview is streaming now on The Leona Graham Podcast.
