We've been told we're not allowed to take your photo, are you having a bad hair day?
No, it's because I wasn't supposed to be doing press. Today was supposed to be my day off.

Oh, you must hate us for ruining your day off.
No, I'm willing to do whatever it takes for this album. As long as I don't have to get my hair and makeup done."

Well, perhaps you can draw us a self portrait instead?
No way! I'm a really bad drawer. I can only draw stick figures.

A stick figure would be fine.
Ok. This is a really bad drawing of me.

It's fantastic. You've been having a fair old go about other girls in pop just lately. What's wrong with them and what gives you the right to judge?
I've been in the music industry my whole life, so I know the side of the industry that they don't. Most of these girls are marketing ploys for some man, who earns so much money from them by making them do stuff that eventually will only hinder their career.

You've been quoted as saying your first album was "the record company trying to make money". With your insider knowledge, why did you not realise that at the time?
I was 16 and didn't really understand what was going on. I thought I was just gonna sing one song, but I ended up doing an album and not being happy with my album or myself.

Is there nothing about the album you like?
Well, in order to learn you have to make a mistake, and it was my mistake. By doing that album I made a better album now. I was really involved from the music to the packaging. I fired three people! I got this guy who used to do all the flyers for New Order and The Hacienda, and he did the album artwork. I really wanted to get into the whole black and white theme.

Kelly's guide to starting a fashion label "My clothing range is just t-shirts and sweat suits. Even when you do a t-shirt you have to buy a t-shirt. Juicy Couture told me to just do t-shirts. So we did and we made a lot of money!"

You've said that electro was the music you listened to as a child but surely it was all rock at your house?
My dad had a vocoder and we used to fight over playing with it. When we couldn't play with the vocoder we talked into the back of a fan. It makes you sound like Darth Vader.

So the 80s sound is achieved by talking into the back of a fan?
No, it gives you the Darth Vader voice! But I'm always playing with my dad's stuff. He’s got this instrument that looks like an old 50s telephone operators' board. It's got all these little plugs that you stick in and you get different sounds. I think it was the first synth. That's what he made Black Sabbath's first album on. I still play with that and get in trouble for it.

Black Sabbath gave you an early understanding of electro music?
No, it's not that. I feel it's something I understand. It feels fresh. It feels like something no one else is doing.

But there are quite a few people doing it though, like Rachel, Girls Aloud...
Well there's a whole other world in the music industry that people don't understand. There was a buzz about my album before it came out. Like, "Oh my god! It's so different from anything she's ever done. She sounds great on it. You have to hear this! I think it's gonna change the way pop music is." Also I went and did some dance music festivals and they think I'm the new face of dance music too. And I think people hear that, and they think: "Now we've got to do an 80s sounding song because that's gonna be the new thing." And that's the way with all those acts like Girls Aloud. Do you know what I mean?

Not really.
It's very marketed. It's all really fake. But at the same time, kids love it. So they've gotta be doing something right. But it doesn't ever last and I don't wanna be one of those people.

Do you promise you won't change direction again for the next album and claim that, actually, this one was rubbish too?
Yes, because I've always been an 80s pop girl. Bands like Human League have always been a huge influence for me. It's more than just the lyrics; I listen to every part of the song, like the beats and the different kinds of keyboards that they use. The first thing I did was a Madonna cover song and I finally just got the opportunity to go in the direction I wanted."


»'Sleeping In The Nothing' is out now on Sanctuary.

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