Watch: new songs as Chantel McGregor plays Worthing

She will headline the Factory Live on June 2 in a date rescheduled from last December (when her mum, who is fine now, was taken ill).

“I'm still in the process of writing the new album but I like to try out songs at gigs. I love putting new songs in the set and seeing what the reaction is. You can gauge so much from the response at the gig, whether the song is worth putting on an album, whether you need to change it or whatever. Songs can change so much and you learn so much about them by doing them live. You can rehearse and rehearse and rehearse but it's never as good as singing a song for real on stage in front of real audience. You can see people's reaction and people talk to you and tell you what they like and what they don't like. It's really great to have that feedback.”

In terms of content lyrically, Chantel reckons the new album – for which there is no date yet – will be similar to the previous album: “I get a lot of inspiration from TV programmes or books I've read, and I like putting myself in the situation of a character that I've heard about or read about and seeing how would I feel in those circumstances.

"One of the songs I wrote on the previous album was all about addiction and depravity. And I have not really experienced addiction or depravity! Well, maybe a chocolate addiction! So I can't really write about things from first-hand experience but I saw a show called True Detectives and that was an inspiration.”

It all comes as musicians still negotiate our post-pandemic world: “I don't think we have completely moved on yet. The pandemic was an absolute nightmare for musicians. It was really, really tough but we got through it but I suppose now it's about viability. We're finding everything massively more expensive, not just petrol but also hotels. Everything has gone up big time. We've got some shows in Scotland and for four rooms in a Travelodge it was £897 for one night! So much has gone up in the last year, and coming out of the pandemic I know of bands and musicians that have just stopped, that haven't been able to come back, and that's a real shame. In my case, I have always been a bit tenacious and I don't really know what else I would do anyway. But it does feel different now. I do find it so much harder. Maybe it's because we had two years of being at home that it now feels more difficult to have a long drive to get home at four in the morning. Maybe it's just that I am two years older!”

As for the music: “It is a mish-mash of all different genres. It's mainly guitar-based, shreddy widdly rock. Maybe it should just be called Chantel. But I love listening to all sorts of different things. I love listening to country and I take a bit of inspiration from that but I love progressive music as well. It’s everything, blues, progressive, country, shreddy twiddly rock, singer-songwriter… everything together.”