Before I talked, I sang (“I feel pretty” in the local village shop, full volume, at 1½). When I dressed up as Rose Red and Cinderella every morning I didn’t realise it was anything special- it was just the kind of thing to do to spice up a dull life. Rushing into Mum’s room with the words ready, I wrote my first song as a four-year-old. For my first competition win, a cappella at my local school, St Mary’s Datchet, I was set onto the table by the reporter to interview, at not even a metre high.

But now you ask me what the best bit of my body is and really it’s the invisible bit- my vocal chords! But I can joke that the best bit of my body is the curve of my eyebrows!

I think a rock band is the best place for a free-minded person with a voice. So that’s why I’m here. I can be expressive, adventurous, create new stuff all the time, play with all your feelings (wake you up a bit, encourage you…)

That way I can get away with being the real me and I don’t get hassled for it.

The band are brilliant guys and great fun to work with. I love the smoothness of their musical confidence because it means that we as a band can be brave and just do really challenging things with the music, and we enjoy naughty jokes, being silly and setting our minds to a serious challenge. We love to play and that is a REAL blessing!

Never one to moan like a little nymph and act helpless, I like leaping from one adventure to the next, plunging into the action, getting my tail singed a little here and there, loving the drama and the energy of feeling alive- luckily my courage grew with the liveliness of the adventures! My heroines have all had their fair share too. Mary Magdalene, Joan of Arc (but she had a miserable death), Elizabeth the First (was so impressive considering the impossible restrictions she had to live through; we have things better now- far more scope for freedom), Maria Callas (I admire for her passion), Ella (it’s that smiling laugh in her voice), Edith Piaf (sparrows have real tenacity and deceptive presence), Billy Holiday (the way she forms her sounds), Cecilia Bartolli (so much passion, she totally commands the stage). I love crazy people like Peter Sellers, and people with vision: some of the film directors I think are brilliant at changing people’s perception of life.

You ask me if I would ever need to have plastic surgery? Well never, because I believe I can fix flaws I detect by setting my mind to the issue.

I’d like to get people to FEEL when they hear my music. I believe using the emotions is what opens up every creative function in the body.

If I could perform with one other performer on stage I would love to perform with Madonna. She is a real power to measure up against and learn from; I think her energy is clear and powerful. But you know, PINK is a little more modern and I am drawn to that spunky lady….
What would my advice be to a child who wants to take up music? Don’t let your parents talk you out of it, be insistent about what you need and get others to back you up. Be loud and precise about it and practice conquering your fears, (its good practice for later).
What do I think about when I am performing? I don’t think at all! I am so caught up in the song, in everything it embodies, I just deliver it.

The best moment I’ve had on stage in my life, you ask? Ooh that’s really hard to answer. It’s possibly when I was doing a very difficult Drama exam and my partner forgot all her words, I had to cover up the fact and play the scene so that it would look as though everything was running smoothly- I still got a distinction!
If I was the world finest instrumentalist on any instrument- oh god, funny question! - The first image I saw in my mind was of a harp- I always wanted to play one as a child but my mum said that it was too large to cart about. (Bloody expensive too, I’m sure.) It would be the harp but could I make it into a rock harp!

Why do I write songs? -Because I feel I have to. Well, actually no-one has to do anything. I feel it is the best use I can make of my talents and song- words and melodies, come out with an ease that I associate with being in love.

What reaction do I want people to have to my music? I want people to be stimulated into self-reflection, to be a little jump-started onto something new. I think that is a good way to deal with the world, and invoke creative expression.

If I weren’t a musician and a writer what would I do as a day job? I would probably be a fashion designer and a gardener.

What one word describes me? Inspirition!

How would I like to be remembered? -for a whole take on life. I’ve given birth to three wonderful amazingly talented children, I wrote a PhD, I’ve worked and talked with some cool people in my life, and somehow I have always found a way (tenaciously and sometimes extremely frustratingly, and against all odds) to do what I want to do.