Admittedly, there have been
a few things Lauren’s been
getting on with while the station’s
future has been in limbo. In March she
announced she was pregnant with her
second child by her TV producer and
DJ husband Graeme Fisher (they
already have a son, Fergus James, two,
and are expecting another boy in
September) and just last month she
added a further string to her bow,
releasing her first book in a series of
teen novels she terms “rock-chick lit”.
Christened Candy Pop, the trilogy
will follow the trials and tribulations of
15-year-old Candy Caine as she sets
about achieving world domination as
the lead singer of a band. Of course,
it’s a life Lauren knows first hand,
having experienced her first taste of
fame aged 16 in cult Nineties punk-pop
group Kenickie – whose debut album
made the top ten – but one she left
behind nearly as many years ago.
Such is her career trajectory these
days, you’re much more likely to find
her sitting on a critics’ panel or
spotting the next big thing in music.
Not that she’s snooty about her
cultural choices, professing to love Big
Brother, Girls Aloud (“I’ve put them
forward for the Mercury Prize twice
and they nearly got short-listed”) and
Vanessa Feltz’s radio show. And so, as
we watch her sway to The Cure, baby
bump peeking out from beneath her
trench coat, we’re thinking that Lauren
is a woman we’d like to get to know…
This weekend it’s the 40th anniversary
of the first Glastonbury Festival
[Lauren is presenting coverage on
BBC2 from 25-27 June]. What have
been your best moments there?
I’ve had so many good moments;
watching Mercury Rev from the side of
the stage in 2002 when there was a big
full moon in the sky… Seeing Wayne
Coyne from The Flaming Lips dressed
up as Superman and throwing giant
inflatables and Hulk hands into the
crowd. And discovering Florence [from
Florence And The Machine]. She was
amazing. We all knew she was going to
be massive but it was at Glastonbury
that she really went overground.
Is it a race to discover new talent?
My friend discovered Florence singing
in the toilets at Bar Fly, so we knew
about her for a while. People get a bit
hung up on being the first to find talent
though, and I don’t know why. I’m not
competitive about music and I’m not
snobby. As soon as a band becomes
popular people go off them and I don’t
really get that – it’s not cool.
Can it be exhausting keeping up with
‘being cool’?
I’m definitely not cool [laughs]. The
coolest person I ever met was John
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Peel and he could not have given a shit
about anything. He didn’t care, he
loved what he loved and that was all
that mattered. I don’t try to be cool…
I’m a 32-year-old mum. You check your
dignity at the door and at some point
you’re going to find yourself in a park
wearing a cagoule. There’s no kudos or
mystique but it’s solid and secure and
dependable and boring. But that’s why
you do it; you want that.
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“I DON’T TRY TO BE COOL. I'M
A 32-YEAR-OLD MUM. AT SOME
POINT YOU’LL FIND YOURSELF IN
A PARK WEARING A CAGOULE”
How has motherhood changed you?
I think I’m fundamentally happier; it’s
a deep, profound joy. I love that kids
surprise you. Fergus can already bust
out a four-syllable word and he’s only
two, but I didn’t know he would be able
to do that. When I was pregnant with
him I remember thinking, “What if he’s
a total genius at Ping-Pong? I could get
into Ping-Pong and follow him to
matches and move to Japan or
wherever it’s massive.” It’s all about
embracing whatever they want to do.
Are you enjoying this pregnancy?
I know couples who have gone through
IVF, so I appreciate it’s a blessing. But
I have to say, I’m not one of these
people who gets fetishes over being
pregnant. I look forward to being me
again and I look forward to having
a baby too.
How do you juggle being a mum
with all of your different
career commitments?
It is hectic, but the reality is you have
a list and you’re at the bottom of your
own list. You put your spine out of joint
falling down the stairs and want to go
to the chiropractor? Tough shit. I’m
lucky that my husband can look after
Fergus while I’m on the radio, but if I’m
honest, I don’t think a perfect
family-work situation exists.
What are your hobbies and interests?
Culture plays such a huge role in the
job you do…
I read, I collect things... I take Fergus
to the British Museum in the
afternoons. Last Friday he ran up to
a mummy and started screaming, “Oh
dear!”, so that was a flying visit. I love
television and history programmes and
documentaries, a bit of Simon Schama
and Peter Ackroyd. At the moment I’m
watching Mary Queen Of Shops and
the boxset of Deadwood.
What book is on your bedside table
at the moment?
I’m actually re-reading a book called
Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor
E Frankl. I’ve got an office in my house
that’s like a big library full of thousands
of records and books, so I picked it up
again after I had a conversation about
it with a friend. He’s on a psychology
course and we were saying it’s a great
book because it’s profound but short!
It’s about a Jewish psychotherapist in
a concentration camp – he thinks he
has no choices but he still manages to
lead a life that’s meaningful.
You’ve recently written your own
novel, aimed at teenage girls.
What inspired you to write for
that audience?
The idea of writing for kids has always
appealed to me, but when I started
thinking about being a teenager again,
I got really excited. It’s a time when
there are still so many gaps in your
knowledge – you’re sort of grown-up
but there’s the possibility of not
understanding everything. Plus, I think
14 is my age emotionally.
Really? You come across as a lot more
together than most people at that age!
Yeah. I think age is a bit like sexuality in
that it gets fixed at a certain point in
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