7 QUESTIONS; From magician's assistant to solo artist, Paloma Faith casts a spell wherever she goes.

Byline: AVRIL CADDEN

You started singing late - what made you get into it? I always sang in private in my house and in my bedroom but I started singing in public very late, about six years ago.

I dabbled a bit as a kid, just doing bits in school concerts and I was in a jazz band when I was 14.

But, when I worked in a bar in Leeds, I was singing along to a CD and someone said: "you've got a really good voice, we should do some music together."

Then I came back to London and had stopped singing until the manager of the bar I worked in told me I was going to be the lead singer in his 50s band. I was saying "how do you know? You don't even know if I can sing" and he said: "I don't care if you can sing, you look good". How bad is that? Lucky for him I could hold a note and that's how it started.

That band was called Paloma And The Penetrators, it was a 50s covers band and now they're The Fabulous Penetrators without me.

After that I enjoyed performing so much that I decided I wanted to write my own music. Youseemtobedrawnto performing, likeoneofyour previousjobsasamagician''s assistant?

I've always been a peformer. If someone was to ask me what I was I'd probably not say singer or actress, I'd probably say performer - professional attention seeker. Doyou sufferfromshyness or stage fright? I suffer from nerves and stage fright just living an ordinary day-to-day life.

Say if I'm with someone and we need to ask for directions I need to get them to do it because I'm too scared to ask, but when it comes to going on stage I never get stage fright, it's like a really weird conflict that I have going on. Tellusaboutyourpreviousjobs. Whatwasitlikebeinga magician''s assistant and a burlesque performer? I did perform in burlesque clubs as a singer but I never stripped. I worked a lot with the Whoopee Club, they are like the biggest burlesque agency in Britain, I think. It's all run by women.

As a magician's assistant I did box jumping - that's sawing in half - levitation, disappearance, and some fire stuff, dub magic and stuffed bunnies as well.

When I said yes to the job it was so much more romantic and exciting than the reality but it's like that with everything. I guess that's what my album's about - it's called Do You Want The Truth or Something Beautiful? How would you describe your album? It's quite eclectic. There's an obvious nod to the past but it's done in quite a contemporary way and it's quite sort of fantastical.

There's a lot of cinema references in the sound of it. I always wanted it to sound more like a soundtrack than an album.

I think I'm a tragic romantic. I think that the most beautiful things come from melancholy. I hope the next single New York is going to make a dent in the top 10. I feel like I'm getting an amazing push and my record company have been incredible. If it doesn't happen then I'll put it down to luck and my lack of talent.

Who''s your musical influences and style icons? I call them the Queens of Tragedy, people like Billie Holiday, Etta James, Edith Piaf, all those melanchonic, glamourous but sad women.

For style I'd say Bettie Page, Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner, Marlene Dietrich and, maybe in the more contemporary way, someone like Bjork or Grace Jones. I think I'm a woman's woman. I've always idolised other women, I don't idolise men very often unless they have a feminine edge.

How do you feel about the Amy Winehouse comparisons? It is a compliment. She is amazing and a really good singer but I don't hear it myself. I think the only thing we have in common is that we probably have a lot of the same references in what inspires our singing style.

AVRIL CADDEN

Single:NewYork,outonSeptember7 Album:DoYouWantTheTruthOrSomething Beautiful? out on September 21 Playing: King Tut's, Glasgow, September 9

CAPTION(S):

STYLE QUEEN& is influenced icons such as Billie Holiday, Marilyn Monroe Marlene Dietrich