Count on Feist for great numbers

YOU could say that Leslie Feist has made success look as easy as 1-2-3-4.

Indeed, thanks in no small part to her song's inclusion on an iPod Nano commercial, the Nova Scotian, who goes by her surname only, has seen latest album The Reminder sell more than one million copies worldwide.

In February she was nominated for four Grammys and, though she left the glitzy ceremony empty-handed, US hip-hop superstar Kanye West begged to meet her and printed a picture of the pair on his blog, adding himself to an impressive celebrity fan club, which boasts a diverse range of artists including rapper Jay-Z and Don Henley of the Eagles, who called her "the whole package".

Just a few weeks after her Grammy disappointment she swept the board at the Junos, Canada's awards equivalent. Then she pipped Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem to the Shortlist prize, the US version of the Mercury Music Prize, and Natalie Portman and Lily Allen to the title of Indie Rock Hottie Of The Year from a website called Stereogum. Awards may be a common thing for Feist these days, but the 32-year-old, who comes to the Queen's Hall on Tuesday, refuses to accept it's her just rewards for making a great album.

"I don't know about just rewards, all of this is unexpected and amazing," she says. "It's a bit like a wedding, really. A wedding is a party to celebrate love that's already there, so you have a day where you wave a flag about it before going on with your life. In a way, it's the same with awards, which mark the moment with a bit of a party.

"The fact it's got such a response is amazing, because I really wasn't expecting anything, anywhere," she adds.

While she insists the iPod advert "didn't change things for me, personally," Feist acknowledges that it helped bring her music to mainstream attention. "There seems to have been an external shift," she admits. "I get recognised a little more now I guess."

As you might expect, the million-selling success of her latest album has led to her becoming a major star, with invites to appear on some of the biggest television shows leading to some "surreal moments" for the singer.

"The most surreal moments came when I played Saturday Night Live," she says. "That's as big as North American TV gets. I grew up watching people on that. Paul Simon was there, and had a message to give me from his wife, Edie Brickell. Bono was there too, so we talked about German film director Leni Riefenstahl for a while. Yeah, it was definitely surreal".

As a teenager, she sang in a punk band. Then she played guitar in various rock bands, including her compatriots, Broken Social Scene, as well as puppeteering for hardcore rapper Peaches – all the while making her own music in her spare time.

That music was "very quiet," she says. "I had roommates and I'd play at 3am, trying not to wake anyone."

Those late-night sessions led to two albums, and she's been busy touring ever since. "It's been about five years. Let It Die (second album and follow-up to her 1999 solo debut] dovetailed right into The Reminder, and the touring didn't stop," says Feist, whose current tour runs through most of 2008.

"I've almost screwed myself by getting used to this constant movement," she says of a nomadic lifestyle, which means she's almost constantly on the road touring. "If ever I was to stop, what would I do?"

She may be reaping the benefits for all her hard work but, according to Feist, it was a phone call asking her to appear with Kermit, Elmo and friends on Sesame Street that was the icing on the cake.

"They wanted me to appear and sing 1-2-3-4, with the lyrics rewritten as a learning to count song," she laughs. "At first I was like, 'Really?'" because it's ridiculously young. But then I went onto YouTube and I was watching other ones and they're incredible. REM sing Shiny Happy People as Happy Furry Monsters. James Blunt does You're Beautiful As A Triangle – 'Three points, it's true'."

Laughing, she continues, "So, I'm on Sesame Street, walking around with all these monsters, Elmo and his buddies, a whole bunch of chickens, a whole bunch of penguins and a number four dancing about. It was just pure joy, simple, ridiculous fun, stupid joy."

• Feist, Queen's Hall, Clerk Street, Tuesday, 7pm, £16, 0131-668 2019