Music seems to be in people's blood! It catches some of us young and lasts a lifetime, it turns some into anoraks and some into anarchists, but whatever way you vote you can't avoid its influence… it's the soundtrack to our lives.

No one knows this better than Claire Sturgess, whose week-daily XFM show, The Works hijacks our airwaves from 9pm to 11pm, fetching with it some of the best bands and sonics to listen out for in future

Steal-Life.com caught up with her to see what's rocking her studio…

Steal-Life - What's your earliest memory of music?
Claire Sturgess - My parents playing the West Side Story soundtrack... a lot!

SL - You've been at XFM since its beginning, how have you weathered the changes?
CS - Far too long and boring to go into now, but during the hideous times when we were getting slagged off BIG time, I just kept my head down and quietly started slipping in ideas for sessions and unsigned bits and pieces. Then slowly the production and management team started to change for the better. Now they're an ace bunch!

SL - Your show is synonymous with supporting new and unsigned bands, how important do think that chance is to musicians?
CS - One of the main things bands want is to be heard. It's nice to think I might be able to help occasionally! Also, it just boils down to the fact that it's a real kick to hear your band on the radio. On a more important note - you never know who might be listening! Look what happened to bands like Electric Soft Parade and Athlete - first played on XFM Unsigned!

SL - Would you have liked to have been in a band yourself?
CS - Never! It's only air-guitar for me! Although, I was in the school orchestra for a couple of years and I played the oboe...

SL - You have a great front row seat to the best bands around: is there any band that' really blown you away and performed beyond expectations?
CS - Last night (11/2/03) actually! The Kings of Leon! I'd come in early especially to check out the session they were doing and while I thought they were good, I wasn't expecting them to be so fucking ace!

SL - Who can we expect to see pictures of in the coming weeks?
CS - There're SO many bands due in over the next few weeks recording sessions for most of the specialist shows! Far too many to list - but I'm looking forward to Radio 4, Hot Hot Heat, Alpinestars, Junior Senior, Kinesis!

SL - Is there any band we should be looking out for in the future?
CS - Can't wait for more stuff from the Kings of Leon. I heard an unsigned band the other day, who blew me away as well. Unfortunately I can't give you the name cos they entered the unsigned band competition we're running at the mo, and I can't be seen to give preferential treatment.

SL - What should any young band sending a demo to your unsigned session know before posting that tape?
CS - That the demo is listened to by more than one person usually. We can't give individual feedback due to the amount of demos we receive and quite often we have to reject a demo because the quality of the recording just wouldn't stand up to radio play. What I mean by that is the sound is severely compressed when it goes out over the air, and if it's not up to a certain quality, you just get a hissy mess, which wouldn't do your band any favours! If you don't hear from us - send us another demo, maybe a different song.

SL - Be honest now: have you ever played something you've been sent just for a laugh? The cheeky girls perhaps?
CS - We're far too precious to do something like that. We're serious about new music y'know… ahem…!


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