Illness - energy draining, head thickening, a river of snot running down onto my duvet. I was feeling shite. A bottle of Lucozade was at my side in the vain hope that the glucose would make me feel better. Fat chance. To cap it all off I've got the Editor on the phone screaming that if I don't complete my deadlines I'd better start looking for a new fucking job, it's a good thing he's probably the best in his field otherwise I'd have told him to fuck off. Amidst all this flu-fueled chaos came a voice of sweetness and reason, whispering exotic cold cures to ease my pain...

Basically I was in me jim-jams and Imogen was on the phone. As Tammy sang, "Sometimes it's hard to be a woman," and in today's music world the pressures ain't getting any easier. It would seem that women have two choices: a) go off wailing territory á la Alanis, Meredith etc. or b) slip on the slinky number and flash yer tits at the boys and girls.

It takes a brave soul to break out of those stereotypes but Imogen might just be the one. Standing 6 foot tall, with a mane of striking red hair, Imogen is not a girl you'd mess with. This comes through in her music. Check out "Getting Scared" where Imogen effectively turns the tables on a man who's been pushing her around. Sounds like she's well in control.

So control is an important factor in your music then?
Yeah totally - when we were doing the LP the record company wanted me to work with a live band on most of the tracks. I'm more into the programming side of things so I put my foot down about it.

You're relatively young. Don't you find it all overwhelming?
Not really, I've been writing songs since I was 10 and been a performer really since the day I was born. The only thing you have to look out for is people who pretend to be your friends. When you reach a certain level of success people latch on to you wanting to be part of it. All you've got to remember is that they're just after your money.

You've just finished your album, what's that like?
Its untitled at the moment, it's full of real big epic songs, you know real Phil Spector type numbers. I recorded it in New York which was cool, I indulged in my obsession for clothes shopping all around Manhattan.

How do you feel about the Alanis comparisons?
It's annoying. Any woman who stands her ground or who isn't sugary sweet is immediately lumped in with Alanis, it's all a bit shallow.

So you'd rather be a Spice Girl?
Fuck no - they're good at what they do but you have to ask yourself is it really them, I mean, who writes the songs.

So you think women have a raw deal in the music industry?
Yeah but I reckon it's getting better, there's more women execs in the industry and I think as a whole the industry has woken up to the fact that women have quite sophisticated tastes and warrant more than the clothes horse image that has hampered them so far.

So you'd say they're pretty ballsy then?
I don't take any shit if that's what you mean. For example I was doing a gig up north and it was like a full-on dance night so I came in to do my set, and there was one guy who was tripping his bollox off. All thru my set he's shouting 'do you want any gear, do you want any gear!' so I had to stop the set and tell him to fuck off.

So, we've pretty much established that you're not to be messed with, but have you got any dreams or ambitions you haven't achieved yet?
Yeah, I'd like to go for a piss on Jupiter.