Nia: Which things would you say have been the biggest influences on the type of music you like as well as your personal style?

Lleuwen: I’d say that both singing and clothes go hand in hand. Until recently I’ve been wearing the type of clothes that you’d expect a jazz singer to wear. I think that comes from the fact when I was a little girl, Dad had a big collection of jazz records and I was drawn to the covers of black women in gorgeous dresses and I felt 'wow, that’s what it’s like to be a woman'.

Nia: I can see that you have a lot of dresses that you wear for performing?

Lleuwen: Yes. This is my favourite and I haven’t worn it yet. It’s a dress from the 30s that my Auntie used to own and it’s been in my Grandmother’s wardrobe for a long time. My Grandmother said to me one day 'You should wear this to sing Wen'. Obviously, I can’t wear it to do a gig in Bethesda’s Rugby Club!

Nia: Dressing up as a girl, in a girly way, is important to you isn’t it?

Lleuwen: I love it! And that’s what I try to reflect and represent. I know that it’s all fun really. Clothes don’t really mean anything in particular but it’s part of enjoying life like other things you enjoy in life.

Lleuwen: This is just a dress I wear for gigs and it works every time. And that’s what I like about it is that I don’t have to worry about what I wear and I can concentrate on the singing.

Lleuwen: I like the humor in clothes too. Clothes don’t have to be a serious thing. I like earrings and over-the-top things. You can take it serious or you can find it amusing and then it’s just good fun.

Nia: What kind of look do jazz singers traditionally have?

Lleuwen: Traditionally, it involves dresses mostly, very glamorous, often very kitsch. Sometimes, I think the reason why people want to get married is that the girl wants to wear a dress similar to the ones jazz singers wear but if you’re a jazz singer yourself, you can get it out of your system because you can wear a dress like that at every gig!

Nia: Has your confidence grown over the years as far as what you wear?

Lleuwen: Definitely. I must say, I don’t care what other people think about what I wear. If I feel good in something, well, it’s going to be a good day and it comes over in the way you are then.

Nia: Do you dress to please your audience, for yourself or a little bit of both?

Lleuwen: I think much more about pleasing myself rather than the audience which isn’t very fair. I’m going to stop doing that as much because it’s not very fair because if God, or whoever, gives you the ability to sing, you should use that in a kinder way and share with people more than just do it to please yourself. You may as well just sing for yourself in the house otherwise!

Nia: Can you crystallize what music means to you?

Lleuwen: Life, freedom.

Nia: And what do clothes mean to you?

Lleuwen: Freedom in the same way. But not life because even though I like clothes, it’s very easy for you to go over the top in the way that you think about the way you look but that’s not really important. As Nain said to me once you can put a coat of paint on a shed and that’s ok but you know that you can’t over-do that because it’s not real then – that is, what’s the point of doing it because it’s just a waste of time. I don’t know how somebody stops playing dressing up because that’s what it is in the end, it’s just a game, playing house, playing fancy dress.

Nia: And do you think you’ll be doing that when you’re 60, 70?

Lleuwen: I hope so.

Lleuwen on clothes...
Clothes are just playthings. They shape the way you want people to think about you. They're not actually the way you are. They are a way for you to unveil yourself to the world which is great.