Chloe, Lyndsey, Emma and Aimee make up Clea. With their debut single "Download It" about the pleasures of internet porn and cyber sex and an album "Identity Crisis" to follow which touches on one night stands and having two guys on the go they're starting to push their own personalities to the fore and should soon shake off the tag of simply being the girls who didn't make it into Girls Aloud. Designer Magazine caught up with the girls to find out what they've been up to in the past 8 months and more importantly if they really are as dirrty as X-Tina or just sweet girls at heart.

Q: The first single "Download" is about downloading porn so I guess you could say just a touch different than your usual pop band.
Lyndsey: Everyone uses the web and everyone's texting. It's not just writing love letters and picking phone calls. When you can't see someone it's fantastic to get your web cam up and it's bringing a futuristic element to the song. Most songs are about love, it's one of the strongest emotions, but it's bringing a difference into it.

Emma: The Matrix and Terminator 3 came out recently and although they're films they are all to do with computer generated images. The epic strings in there add a whole new vibe to the song and it's actually quite a haunting song. I think when you first see us visually, it's quite dark / sultry / sassy, but it's done in a classy way. But the next track we release might be one our rock chick tunes so our appearance will change.

Lyndsey: Were all very extreme and we change alot in ourselves with our moods. We want to be different every time we come out with a new song. We don't want to be like the Spice Girls where it was she's different from her, but were not clones of each other. We can all pull off the same image without wearing the same clothes as each other.
 

Q: I've been listening to the album sampler. One Night Stands and having two guys on the go seem to stick out. You're not as sweet as your innocent faces suggest are you?
Aimee: What we like about it is that it's all stuff that happens to us and girls our age. A lot of people can relate to it whether they've been through it when they were young or they're going through it now - everyone will go through experiences which are written about on the album.

Emma: You said about the track about one night stands, but the music is very quirky and bouncy. It's almost like a circus vibe. Even though lyrically it's more mature it's got the elements sandwiched so the kids will like it.

Lyndsey: We want to broaden our horizons and appeal to as many people as we can appeal to. Rather than aim for the 4-16 age market or whatever.
 

Q: Popstars: The Rivals finished about 8 months ago. Does it just seem a lifetime ago now?
Emma: We look back on footage of the program and it's like, god we've changed so much. It seems like years and years ago we did it, but it's good that we've had these 8 months to form the group and record the album.

Chloe: Also we've got to know each other properly and we all live together in London. Were all one big happy family (laughs) and we've bonded really really well together. Now were really strong as a unit and were ready to go out and show the world what were made of.

Emma: Clea sounds the like the most obvious name to come up with, but it did take us 3 or 4 months to think of a name.
 

Q: You couldn't have come up with any names worse than Girls Aloud or One True Voice, but what were the worst ones?
Lyndsey: Sparkle by Chloe. She woke me up at 2 in the morning and shouted Sparkle down my ear

Aimee: We'd be driving down the motor way and we'd see signs - what about POST OFFICE or CHEEKY MONKEY?
 

Q: So how long after the TV show did you decide to form the group?
Aimee: We'd already decided to be a group before the last show at Christmas and after deciding what we wanted to do we signed the contract in February and moved in the house together the week after. It all happened so quickly to be honest...we came out of the show and it was the disappointment of thinking that is my chance gone and then a week later it was like Oh My God, We Actually Want To Be In A Group Together.

Chloe: It was nice just to have a couple of weeks after the show to have a breather because at the end of the day you're shoved right into the public eye and it's a lot of pressure. So it's was nice just for the pressure to be taken off.

Lyndsey: We formed the band just before the last show and we could easily have brought out a song straight away and said this is our work off the back of Popstars and Girls Aloud. But we wanted to get the best music, write the best music, do the best videos and to work with the best people...and to do that we had to wait longer.

Emma: This is not just a job we want for a week or one single. We want it to be a career. Most artists take a couple of years to produce and album and to develop as a group and that's what we needed. We needed time to reflect on what we'd done on the show, but then to come back and really get going.
 

Q: I guess it was important to take the time and put your own stamp on things. To make it truly Clea rather than just an image of a marketing director or something.
Aimee: The record company have given us a lot of input in the styling and our music. It is important to write your own music and they've given us the chance to do that - we've written a song that's on the album and then we've co-written most of the tracks on the album to make them all ours. Cover versions were never an option, we wanted all original material because people are a bit bored of the cover business and we needed to bring out something that was more us.

Lyndsey: It's highly unlikely that you ever get a cover that is as good as the original. There's only been a very few that have been just as good. We've got a different sound and we want to portray that sound and so writing our own material and collaborating is the way we wanted to go. I think the only way we'd do a cover would be for charity.

Were quite lucky because we don't just look different, we sound different to each other. We've got the same musical direction, but the influences are different.

Chloe: And were bringing the album out straight after the first single cos were very proud of it. We don't want people to wait.