On Tour

When we played Glasgow, the crowd responded really well: they knew all the words and were jumping up and down. If people react like that, you get inspired to work a lot harder. Most of the audience were guys, which is a little unusual. I don't see myself as a sex symbol - maybe sensuous, which is a bit different.

When I'm writing, it's usually a personal feeling that I've expanded upon: there's a little spark that gets turned into a drama. Doing these songs with my band now I get to really live the song. How I'm feeling on the night is how it will come out.

Between gigs we travel by bus, and when we're not on the move they try to get as much work out of me as possible - TV, interviews . . . And then you get to the soundcheck, which is the only time of the day to sleep and eat - but you've got to do the soundcheck. Sleeping and eating become extremely precious. Immediately after a gig I find the nearest bed and I'm off - I feel like I've done a workout.

Soundchecks are just a necessary thing but can go wrong. Like, at Cambridge, the whole system just went off completely. But we just carried on, with the crowd singing along, until it got sorted out. That's why I like to keep the set-up natural, so if the worst comes to the worst, the drums can still beat, I can still sing. I grew up singing in church with no sound systems - you just learned to really use your voice.

Carleen Anderson's tour includes: The Ritz, Manchester tonight; De Montfort Uni, Leicester 6 Jul; Town and Country, Leeds 7 Jul; Brixton Academy 9 Jul

(Photograph omitted)