Clara Amfo: If it ever gets revealed that I called paparazzi on myself, please use this interview
Clara Amfo: and be like, " Clara, you hypocrite and you idiot." Yeah,
Clara Amfo: that was a really, yeah, really special gig. Yeah, memory
Clara Amfo: unlocked with that one. I've sat across Kendrick Lamar, Jay-
Clara Amfo: Z, Ariana Grande, whoever, and just Strictly and all of a
Clara Amfo: sudden my mom, " Oh wow."
Alex Legouix: Now you've made it there.
Clara Amfo: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Alex Legouix: This is Show on the Road brought to you by
Alex Legouix: Autotrader. We are driving famous faces on a personalized road
Alex Legouix: trip, visiting the places that help shape them and hearing
Alex Legouix: how the locations turn them into who they are today.
Alex Legouix: We've matched each celebrity with a car chosen specifically for
Alex Legouix: them. So, join me, Alex Legouix as we get this
Alex Legouix: show on the road. Today I'm in South London, not
Alex Legouix: far from Brixton, meeting, BBC Radio DJ and TV presenter,
Alex Legouix: Clara Amfo. We've matched her with a Ford Mustang Mach-
Alex Legouix: E, which I'm hoping she will absolutely love, especially because
Alex Legouix: it has an incredible Bang & Olufsen sound system, which should
Alex Legouix: be right up her street. Let's see what she thinks. Hello?
Clara Amfo: Hello. All right.
Alex Legouix: Welcome.
Clara Amfo: Fancy.
Alex Legouix: It is the latest Ford and it's a Mustang Mach- E.
Clara Amfo: It is very fab.
Alex Legouix: It is a cool car and it has a ridiculous sound system. So
Alex Legouix: that's what we thought would be very Clara.
Clara Amfo: I'm all about great sound quality all day. I literally
Clara Amfo: can't do anything in silence. I don't think I can,
Clara Amfo: whether it's on the way to work, in the shower, wherever, I always
Clara Amfo: need music on. So I'm glad that there is a great sound system.
Alex Legouix: That's good. And it's also like it's got this acoustic glass so it cuts all of the
Alex Legouix: sound outside out. So if you do have your music
Alex Legouix: on in here, it is proper sweet.
Clara Amfo: Fabulous.
Alex Legouix: Happy?
Clara Amfo: Yeah.
Alex Legouix: Good to go?
Clara Amfo: Yeah, let's do it.
Alex Legouix: Should we go and have a mooch around the world of
Alex Legouix: Clara Amfo?
Clara Amfo: Let's roll.
Alex Legouix: We're going to start at Brixton Market.
Clara Amfo: Fab.
Alex Legouix: Let's get this show on the road.
Clara Amfo: Lovely.
Alex Legouix: This is not obviously the car that you started your
Alex Legouix: youth in, but it is a Ford.
Clara Amfo: It is a Ford.
Alex Legouix: It was Ford-
Clara Amfo: Sierra.
Alex Legouix: ... Sierra, right?
Clara Amfo: And I still remember the license plate to this day,
Clara Amfo: which I probably won't repeat on here, but that red car,
Clara Amfo: that was just such a staple in our childhood. I remember
Clara Amfo: actually drawing a picture of it as a kid. Because
Clara Amfo: again, you don't think of, "This is how I live, this is the car that my daddy drives, my mommy
Clara Amfo: drives," whatever. But yeah, well no, we loved that car, but my
Clara Amfo: dad pretty much had it till it was falling to
Clara Amfo: pieces. Because I've got a memory of it having brown
Clara Amfo: tape on it, I think around the back... Yeah, the rear license plate.
Alex Legouix: I think that's just a thing that you have to have on
Alex Legouix: those old school cars as well. You keep it until it's
Alex Legouix: dying. Did it have the old school tape deck as
Alex Legouix: well and stuff like that?
Clara Amfo: I think so. For me, because that car, it definitely had
Clara Amfo: old school radio tuner thingy in it. Because I think,
Clara Amfo: yeah, my dad got... Because my dad passed away in 2015,
Clara Amfo: he was driving loads in the early 2010s, 2000s or
Clara Amfo: whatever, and the new car he got obviously had digital radio and
Clara Amfo: stuff like that. But the Ford that we drove around
Clara Amfo: in as kids, yeah, he'd tune it. He loved listening to classical
Clara Amfo: music stations, but then local radio or whatever was on
Clara Amfo: in the area that we'd be driving around in. But
Clara Amfo: yeah, no, I flipping loved that car, man.
Alex Legouix: You have quite a few siblings, don't you?
Clara Amfo: Yeah, I've got four brothers and one sister.
Alex Legouix: And were you traveling quite a lot?
Clara Amfo: Yeah. Oh yeah, loads and loads becasue we were brought up in
Clara Amfo: Kingston. But honestly, it's a really interesting one because I have
Clara Amfo: this... Even though I was raised there, I sort of
Clara Amfo: was and I wasn't in a weird sort of way
Clara Amfo: because pretty much every weekend we would drive to Brixton,
Clara Amfo: Balham, Peckham to (inaudible) . All the south and all
Clara Amfo: the south east, west London is essentially how I was
Clara Amfo: sort of raised by proxy in this car, going to
Clara Amfo: visit relatives because those are really heavily populated Ghanaian areas.
Alex Legouix: Yeah, okay.
Clara Amfo: And obviously, my mom loves cooking Ghanaian food and so
Clara Amfo: those are the markets that we go to as kids. Like
Clara Amfo: Brixton Market, I know like the back of my hand.
Clara Amfo: Brixton and Tooting Market were the two main ones we'd go
Clara Amfo: to as kids, so that we drive from Kingston every
Clara Amfo: weekend to go there. So I would get bits and bobs
Clara Amfo: for cooking family meals and we'd just go and see
Clara Amfo: relatives who were in those areas as well. So that
Clara Amfo: was a lot of my sort of formative journey time. I honestly
Clara Amfo: feel like I spent... We know how they say that you spend, what is it, 90%
Clara Amfo: of your life in bed or wherever?
Alex Legouix: Yeah.
Clara Amfo: I think I spent 90% of my childhood life-
Alex Legouix: In that car.
Clara Amfo: ... in that Ford Sierra. Yeah.
Alex Legouix: That's brilliant.
Clara Amfo: My parents came here in 1970 and my dad came
Clara Amfo: over here to study and mum came over here to work as
Clara Amfo: well. And they kind of found where their people... Obviously
Clara Amfo: they assimilated and mix and match and met loads of
Clara Amfo: new people, but of course you want that home from
Clara Amfo: home sort of thing. So going to those areas is really important
Clara Amfo: for us. And I think it was really fundamental, so
Clara Amfo: we never forgot where our parents came from, where we
Clara Amfo: came from. I always kind of dread to think how
Clara Amfo: I would be if we didn't do those trips and those journeys.
Alex Legouix: Such formative years and formative times, isn't it? And I
Alex Legouix: think there's something really bizarre about being in the car,
Alex Legouix: sort of what we're doing now, but where people end
Alex Legouix: up talking about completely different things, don't they? And I
Alex Legouix: think that that's something. Car journeys bring out things in families
Alex Legouix: or in whoever's in the car. You end up doing some arguments, weird
Alex Legouix: games, stuff that you don't really sit down and do
Alex Legouix: in the lounge.
Clara Amfo: No, that's true. Yeah, I think for me it was always, I used
Clara Amfo: to disassociate a lot as a kid really completely. And
Clara Amfo: doing that thing of thinking you're in a music video, especially
Clara Amfo: if the weather was rubbish, it was pouring down with
Clara Amfo: rain and there was drizzle. I always follow a particular
Clara Amfo: raindrop down the car window, just stare and sing songs
Clara Amfo: or whatever and just just zone out. What sorts
Alex Legouix: Of music were you into at that sort of age? Gosh,
Clara Amfo: Everything really. Because the thing is when you're a kid,
Clara Amfo: what your parents are going to listen to it almost
Clara Amfo: like you're just sort of dictated to, its when you're in
Clara Amfo: the car with your mum and dad, I think it was just always any
Clara Amfo: sort of power ballad station, easy listening, that's what my
Clara Amfo: dad was into and a lot of that classical music. But then we are
Clara Amfo: listening to a lot of high life, which Ghanaian pop
Clara Amfo: music because also the further you'd go in to South London,
Clara Amfo: you'd pick up local stations, like local pirate stations. I
Clara Amfo: don't know, one second, it would be like UK garage and
Clara Amfo: then it would be the local Ghanaian community station and then
Clara Amfo: it'd be Classic FM and then Smooth FM or KISS or
Clara Amfo: Radio 1, or like-
Alex Legouix: Such an eclectic-
Clara Amfo: ... whatever. So I kind of absorbed it all to
Clara Amfo: be honest. But I think most of those stations at
Clara Amfo: that time, I'm seeing that all those sort of easy listening sections
Clara Amfo: that my dad would love. I think it must've been
Clara Amfo: some sort of Celine Dion moment.
Alex Legouix: I was literally about to say.
Clara Amfo: Or Whitney. It'd be like Celine, Whitney or Mariah. One
Clara Amfo: of the Holy Trinity or those sort of-
Alex Legouix: Proper big characters.
Clara Amfo: Yeah. And it just... Or Tony Braxton, Unbreak My Heart.
Alex Legouix: She was a mega.
Clara Amfo: Yeah, any of those sorts of tunes, I would just
Clara Amfo: be in my feelings not knowing any of those feelings
Clara Amfo: but being like...
Alex Legouix: Yeah, it's doing something to me and I can't know
Alex Legouix: what's happening.
Clara Amfo: Exactly.
Alex Legouix: When you said that you would think about being in your
Alex Legouix: own pop video, would you be the starring role? Would
Alex Legouix: you be the singer?
Clara Amfo: Yeah, I would be a hundred percent. Oh my gosh. But-
Alex Legouix: Can you sing?
Clara Amfo: Oh, no, no, no. I like to sing but I can't sing at all.
Clara Amfo: Absolutely not. But I think we've all got main character
Clara Amfo: syndrome. I think it's been made worse by social media.
Alex Legouix: So true.
Clara Amfo: We've all got main character syndrome, baby. You just got to
Clara Amfo: lean in, accept it.
Alex Legouix: Yeah. And what was little Clara like? Were you mischievous? Were
Alex Legouix: you ambitious? Were you...
Clara Amfo: I was a little bit mischievous. I think everyone thinks they're
Clara Amfo: a weird kid because I think kids are weird. I
Clara Amfo: think I liked that about being a kid. Well, looking
Clara Amfo: back now, I think I liked that about myself. I
Clara Amfo: was really chatty. But then I also, I quite liked
Clara Amfo: my own company as well and I just... Yeah, I was a proper
Clara Amfo: little... I was a little daydreamer and I was a
Clara Amfo: chatter box.
Alex Legouix: Liking your own company is quite useful when you're a
Alex Legouix: radio DJ, I would imagine.
Clara Amfo: It's quite a solitary job because I forget how many
Clara Amfo: millions of people I'm speaking to because essentially it's just
Clara Amfo: me in the studio. And yeah, I've got my production team but
Clara Amfo: even that was challenged because even the pandemic. Just when
Clara Amfo: we were in the proper thick of it, my job
Clara Amfo: was really solitary because I can have my producers in
Clara Amfo: my radio show in the room with me because usually there'd
Clara Amfo: be like... Could have anything up to six or seven
Clara Amfo: people in the room. But then with social distancing and
Clara Amfo: all of that, for the first, I think, year of the pandemic,
Clara Amfo: couldn't have my producers in the room, we'd always hug
Clara Amfo: and say hello, couldn't do none of that, couldn't have any
Clara Amfo: guests in. Everything was done online and it was a
Clara Amfo: very weird experience. Because I'm so used to walking into
Clara Amfo: a bustling office, everyone's there, walking into the studio and
Clara Amfo: just high five people, like whatever. But that's why the
Clara Amfo: listeners are so vital because at least you've someone to chat to.
Alex Legouix: That's so true.
Clara Amfo: You know?
Alex Legouix: We are close, aren't we now to-
Clara Amfo: Yeah, we're in Briton.
Alex Legouix: ... Brixton and Brixton Market, right?
Clara Amfo: Because I'm seeing the Ritzy Cinema. And I was just here
Clara Amfo: the other week with one of my dear friends, Kieran. We went
Clara Amfo: to see that movie Rye Lane, set in Peckham, and
Clara Amfo: actually they filmed a lot of it in Peckham and
Clara Amfo: in Brixton, funnily enough. I love Brixton.
Alex Legouix: And so this has been a very big part of your
Alex Legouix: life, hasn't it? Brixton, Brixton market?
Clara Amfo: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Alex Legouix: Like you said earlier about your mom coming or you
Alex Legouix: guys going to the market and getting your foods and
Alex Legouix: stuff like that.
Clara Amfo: Yep. I love Brixton and I think it's just got
Clara Amfo: a character to it. It is like every borough and every town
Clara Amfo: has got such a distinctive personality. And I think there's
Clara Amfo: nowhere else like Brixton in London.
Alex Legouix: No.
Clara Amfo: I think the beautiful thing about Brixton is it is
Clara Amfo: the second- geners and the first-geners of the Windrush kids and people
Clara Amfo: that make it what it is. It's that thriving Afro-
Clara Amfo: Caribbean community that give it so much flavor and vibrancy. I
Clara Amfo: think it's really important for Brixton to hold onto that
Clara Amfo: because as we know, gentrification is a wild beast. And
Clara Amfo: of course you want areas, sites to develop and to
Clara Amfo: be invested in, but you don't want it to be at the detriment of the
Clara Amfo: people that built the community. Because that's the thing, anywhere
Clara Amfo: up and down the UK, anywhere that's got any sort
Clara Amfo: of, in my personal opinion, any coolness and just intrigue around
Clara Amfo: it and... Even that, see look coming up, you see
Clara Amfo: the Ritzy Cinema, " Happy 20th birthday, street classes. Thank you
Clara Amfo: Brixton for loving us." These are the people that make a community
Clara Amfo: what it is and they need to be cherished and protected.
Alex Legouix: What would the market have been like?
Clara Amfo: The market? I've got always super, super busy. Because I
Clara Amfo: think one thing about Brixton, Brixton market, for me that is
Clara Amfo: a very sensory thing, is the smell of fresh meat.
Alex Legouix: Yeah, yeah, that's so true.
Clara Amfo: Yeah. That's where it always goes, straight to the butchers,
Clara Amfo: straight to the butchers around that Cold Harbor Lane, Electric
Clara Amfo: Avenue, all this area because my mum would just go
Clara Amfo: and get loads of lamb, chicken, goat to make traditional
Clara Amfo: Ghanaian meals. That was our thing. But then there'd also
Clara Amfo: be people with their sort of pop- ups selling already
Clara Amfo: made meals. And I'm seeing that more actually because obviously, that
Clara Amfo: sort of pop- up culture is definitely more prevalent now.
Clara Amfo: And now you are seeing people do like, " Oh, my
Clara Amfo: mom taught me how to make this dish. I'm from
Clara Amfo: this country." And now you can get a little box
Clara Amfo: of food takeaway away. And that wasn't as prevalent when I
Clara Amfo: was growing up. So that's really cool to see. Yeah,
Clara Amfo: that's definitely the thing driving around here, it is that
Clara Amfo: smell of just nicely cooked food, but also raw food.
Clara Amfo: Just feeling the busyness.
Alex Legouix: Yeah, the vibrancy and...
Clara Amfo: Feeling the busyness for sure. I don't think I've ever
Clara Amfo: seen Brixton quiet, because even when you're walking around at 02: 00
Clara Amfo: or 3: 00 am, people are coming out from clubs, bars
Clara Amfo: or whatever. And obviously Brixton Academy is here, which is such
Clara Amfo: a formative part of my... I mean, it still is.
Clara Amfo: I can't even tell you how many gigs I've been
Clara Amfo: to then and every single artist I interview, especially the
Clara Amfo: ones who were brought up round here, that is their
Clara Amfo: mecca of, " I need to play there."
Alex Legouix: Your very first gig memories, are they from round here?
Clara Amfo: Oh gosh, yeah. I'm trying to think about who was
Clara Amfo: one of the first acts that I saw, because I keep
Clara Amfo: tickets stubs from pretty much every gig that I go to.
Alex Legouix: Oh do you? That's nice.
Clara Amfo: No, I've got shoe boxes full of ticket stubs. Even
Clara Amfo: though we can get things on our phone wherever possible, if
Clara Amfo: I can get a physical ticket stub, I'm keeping it
Clara Amfo: because I am quite sentimental.
Alex Legouix: But you touched on the fact that your dad passed.
Clara Amfo: Yeah.
Alex Legouix: That I imagine was obviously pretty tough and something that
Alex Legouix: I know has come up since and I wondered how
Alex Legouix: you cope with that, but having to still be the
Alex Legouix: upbeat Clara Amfo for the shows.
Clara Amfo: I speak about my dad often and I did go
Clara Amfo: for a point and thinking, should I not speak about
Clara Amfo: it so much? Because I think the thing about doing
Clara Amfo: any sort of public facing job, but especially in broadcast,
Clara Amfo: once you say something or you put something out there,
Clara Amfo: people are always going to want to talk about it. And I get there
Clara Amfo: and I think, I don't ever want to shy away
Clara Amfo: from talking about death because one thing that I've learned
Clara Amfo: since my dad passed is that I think we're making
Clara Amfo: progress as a society in the UK, but I think
Clara Amfo: British people have still got a very conservative way of
Clara Amfo: dealing with death still. I don't think it's necessarily there's
Clara Amfo: shame around it, but I think there's just an awkwardness. People don't
Clara Amfo: really know what to do and it's like, " Listen, we're
Clara Amfo: all going to die whether we like it or not,
Clara Amfo: that's just life." And I think when it came to
Clara Amfo: my dealing with bereavement, it was an interesting one and it's something
Clara Amfo: that I'm still sort of trying to unpack now really.
Clara Amfo: Because I remember when my dad died, I was literally
Clara Amfo: back to work a week or 10 days later. And
Clara Amfo: the thing is, radio were amazing with me. The duty
Clara Amfo: of care was great. They said, " You take off all
Clara Amfo: the time you need." But I think I was in so much
Clara Amfo: shock. Because I remember I joined Radio 1 in 2015
Clara Amfo: and I remember I got the job offer and I remember I
Clara Amfo: was doing this photo shoot for a magazine that was
Clara Amfo: sort of announcing my new role and, " Here's Clara, she's
Clara Amfo: taken over from Fearne," and dah, dah dah, dah, dah.
Clara Amfo: And at that shoot, I had literally been talking to my
Clara Amfo: dad that day and then I was going to France
Clara Amfo: maybe a couple days later to run the Paris Half
Clara Amfo: Marathon. I found out my dad had passed away when I
Clara Amfo: was in Paris and he knew about me getting the
Clara Amfo: job at Radio 1 and then, yeah, then he died.
Clara Amfo: And then I was back on air a week or
Clara Amfo: two later, and there were times when I was doing
Clara Amfo: the show in the months after he passed where I'd be
Clara Amfo: fine doing a link. So I'd be like, " Okay, up next is
Clara Amfo: Little Mix and then I'd just be sobbing uncontrollably under
Clara Amfo: the desk or at the mic and then I'd have
Clara Amfo: to be like, suck it up and then carry on. And
Clara Amfo: again, looking back now, I'm like, " Bloody hell, Clara. You
Clara Amfo: should have allowed yourself more time and more sort of
Clara Amfo: patience with yourself." But it was such an new experience
Clara Amfo: to me. I've never experienced death like that. I had a
Clara Amfo: friend who passed away when I was a teenager, but
Clara Amfo: until that point, I hadn't experienced a close death like that. It
Clara Amfo: was a weird experience having to switch on the old
Clara Amfo: razzle dazzle when I felt like I was just crumbling.
Clara Amfo: But that is very symptomatic, I think of what British
Clara Amfo: people do. It's so embedded into our way of thinking.
Clara Amfo: Think about the slogan, " Cute, calm, and carry on." Obviously
Clara Amfo: that's used in wartime, but I think we apply that
Clara Amfo: to so many things.
Alex Legouix: Yeah, we do.
Clara Amfo: For anyone listening to this, if you are going through bereavement, my
Clara Amfo: advice would be you've really just got to let yourself
Clara Amfo: feel everything. You really have to, because I never pretended
Clara Amfo: not to be sad per se, but I do wish
Clara Amfo: I allowed myself just to sit with the pain and
Clara Amfo: just the news of it all for a little bit
Clara Amfo: longer rather than just chucking myself into activity. But then
Clara Amfo: at the same time, I think going back to work
Clara Amfo: and having that routine kind of saved me as well.
Clara Amfo: It's a double- edged sword, to be honest. And everyone's process of
Clara Amfo: dealing with death is so different. And the thing I
Clara Amfo: always tell people as well is that you don't have to
Clara Amfo: get over it. I don't believe in it. You learn
Clara Amfo: how to deal with it. And I think that is fine.
Clara Amfo: That's something that I do advocate for, learning how to
Clara Amfo: deal with it, but you never have to get over
Clara Amfo: it. I think it's such a bizarre ask of somebody
Clara Amfo: to get over somebody who lived a whole full, rich
Clara Amfo: life. You can't just click your fingers and it's like, "
Clara Amfo: Oh yeah, they were never there."
Alex Legouix: They're there in everything still.
Clara Amfo: But that's it.
Alex Legouix: For most people, they're there forever more.
Clara Amfo: That's it.
Alex Legouix: And it's more for the other people around you, I
Alex Legouix: think, that you end up having to make out that
Alex Legouix: you've got over it because other people can't deal with that level of grief.
Clara Amfo: Yeah, 100%. 100%.
Alex Legouix: What's it like being interviewed rather than interviewing?
Clara Amfo: It's nice to have a day off of just jamming the
Clara Amfo: car. But yeah, I don't mind it. I like talking to
Clara Amfo: people. I'm interested in people. I'm interested in the choice
Clara Amfo: of the questions people have for me because I know
Clara Amfo: what it's like to try and construct an interview. And
Clara Amfo: obviously, there's all different types of interviews you can do because I do... Obviously,
Clara Amfo: I do radio and some of the interviews I get, I'll
Clara Amfo: get four to five minutes with somebody, but then I might
Clara Amfo: do a film premiere and I'll get maybe 10 minutes
Clara Amfo: or I might do a long form interview with an actor
Clara Amfo: or whoever and then I might get half an hour
Clara Amfo: with them. It really depends. And you adapt your skillset for
Clara Amfo: different people and situations. Sometimes you're live, so you've only
Clara Amfo: got sometimes even a minute. Get this person, ask them
Clara Amfo: this, boom! You're done, and it's highly pressurized.
Alex Legouix: And you have those moments where like, " Why did that
Alex Legouix: come out of my mouth?"
Clara Amfo: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Alex Legouix: I have one question.
Clara Amfo: Yeah, exactly.
Alex Legouix: Why did I choose that one?
Clara Amfo: Exactly. Oh my God. Yeah. The amount of times I've been like, "Clara, you absolute idiot." Or just, "Did I really say that out loud?"
Alex Legouix: Yeah.
Clara Amfo: Yeah, because a mixture of adrenaline, natural nerves, you know-
Alex Legouix: Exhaustion.
Clara Amfo: Yeah, all of it can affect how you do your job. Because
Clara Amfo: you can go in with the best of intentions, " I'm going
Clara Amfo: to smash this interview," and then sometimes it doesn't go the way you plan. And
Clara Amfo: sometimes that can be really, really good because even though
Clara Amfo: I like to have a structure of how I work, I
Clara Amfo: also enjoy knowing that a conversation can go anywhere, which
Clara Amfo: I'm sure you know, you experience all the time doing this as
Clara Amfo: well. It's like, yeah, you have your plan, but you
Clara Amfo: never know where chats are going to go. And I think that's
Clara Amfo: the novelty of it for me.
Alex Legouix: I completely agree. Do you think that you are... Is
Alex Legouix: it people that you're curious about as well as-
Clara Amfo: Oh, definitely.
Alex Legouix: ... Obviously, I know we actually haven't spoken enough about
Alex Legouix: music and we will do, but is it people and
Alex Legouix: what makes them?
Clara Amfo: Oh, a hundred percent. I think actually, I've got equal love
Clara Amfo: for... equal curiosity about people as much as I do
Clara Amfo: any arts and culture. It's like music, theater, film, whatever.
Clara Amfo: I'm just interested in people and why we do the
Clara Amfo: things we do, why we're into what we're into. I
Clara Amfo: love the word curious because essentially, it's more chiccer way
Clara Amfo: of saying I'm nosy.
Alex Legouix: That is so true.
Clara Amfo: It's just nosy, make it chic.
Alex Legouix: I'm really nosy.
Clara Amfo: Yeah, I'm nosy as fuck. Yeah, I am. I am. People are
Clara Amfo: interesting, man. Even driving around now, there's a man I'm
Clara Amfo: seeing there with his shopping trolley, whatever, and I'm thinking, " I wonder
Clara Amfo: who he is. I wonder where he grew up. I
Clara Amfo: wonder if he's got a partner. I wonder what he does
Clara Amfo: for a living. What's been his day today?"
Alex Legouix: I do love a good people watch. Do you?
Clara Amfo: Yeah. It's just like, we're fascinating creatures.
Alex Legouix: You've touched on the fact that obviously when you're in
Alex Legouix: the car and your passion for music sort of started
Alex Legouix: there, but where did the thirst for making it, I
Alex Legouix: guess, more of a career come from?
Clara Amfo: I think, I remember I went to a trip, I think it
Clara Amfo: was the Science Museum or the Design Museum, was one
Clara Amfo: of those two and there was a radio station and
Clara Amfo: they set up this whole, " Make your own demo" thing.
Clara Amfo: And I remember thinking, this is so fun. And you
Clara Amfo: basically just got to say your name, introduce a song,
Clara Amfo: and they'd give you the demo back on a CD
Clara Amfo: of the branded station and with your name on it. And I remember taking
Clara Amfo: that and thinking, " Oh my God, this is so cool.
Clara Amfo: This is it." I'm thinking, " Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This
Clara Amfo: is what I'm going to be doing. I need to
Clara Amfo: be doing this. Just chatting and playing tunes." Okay, you
Clara Amfo: can make a career, you can have a job doing
Clara Amfo: this. Absolutely. Because I loved so many things as a
Clara Amfo: little kid. I loved sport, but let's go back to what we were saying.
Clara Amfo: But when you are a little kid, you've just got
Clara Amfo: the most beautiful sense of ambition because you're just like, "No, anything
Clara Amfo: is possible." Do you know what I mean?
Alex Legouix: Mm-hmm. Did your folks ever guide you?
Clara Amfo: Do you know what? Not really, because my dad, he was a microbiologist,
Clara Amfo: so he was very, very intelligent man.
Alex Legouix: Wow.
Clara Amfo: For him, in a medical research joy way, COVID, he
Clara Amfo: would've been having a field day because that was literally
Clara Amfo: his vocation, studying viruses and tropical disease or all of that.
Clara Amfo: So we spent a lot of our times in hospital
Clara Amfo: as a kid. I remember some days I'd go and
Clara Amfo: hang out with him in his hospital. It'd be by
Clara Amfo: the fridges full of blood and samples and stuff because
Clara Amfo: he'd just be in his lab working. Like, " Sit still,
Clara Amfo: don't touch anything," look it or would play with his
Clara Amfo: stethoscope and things like that. But my dad was super
Clara Amfo: academic. And my mom isn't necessarily the most... She's not
Clara Amfo: an academic, but very much sort of like... My mom's
Clara Amfo: like, she's been a dinner lady. She was a cleaner
Clara Amfo: for, oh my god, 20 years. But yeah, they just
Clara Amfo: wanted us, all of my brothers and sisters sort of
Clara Amfo: ideally have maybe a medical profession or something in law
Clara Amfo: or pharmacy, all your traditional sort of prestige jobs. You
Clara Amfo: know when parents just like, " My God, my child's a doctor or my child's a this, " or like da da da da da
Clara Amfo: da. And none of us... We're all creative.
Alex Legouix: Oh, really?
Clara Amfo: Apart from my sister. My sister works in food tech,
Clara Amfo: but all of us just... Yeah, like my brother Andy,
Clara Amfo: he does voiceovers. You've probably heard his voice on things actually.
Alex Legouix: Oh really?
Clara Amfo: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. He's on bloody everything. I can't escape him.
Clara Amfo: Actually one really awkward moment, I was just like, " What?"
Clara Amfo: He did a voiceover for a very well known company
Clara Amfo: that sells sexy toys and sexy things to people.
Alex Legouix: No.
Clara Amfo: And my brother's on the voiceover and I was just like, "
Clara Amfo: Literally, I cannot. I literally can't deal. Go away. Go
Clara Amfo: away." But yeah, we all do kind of creative things. The
Clara Amfo: great thing about parents was that in an ideal world,
Clara Amfo: we all would've done those sort of prestige, like academic,
Clara Amfo: scientific or whatever jobs, but there was never a thing of, "
Clara Amfo: If you do something outside of that realm, you are
Clara Amfo: not welcome in my house." There was never that,
Clara Amfo: and I'm really, really appreciative of that. But my dad's
Clara Amfo: whole thing particularly was very much like, " Okay, if you are not
Clara Amfo: going to do one of these sorts of professions, then
Clara Amfo: you got to make sure that whatever you do, you
Clara Amfo: make sure that you are going to be the flipping
Clara Amfo: best or you don't do it by halves, commit and do
Clara Amfo: it properly. Otherwise what's the point?" So I think that
Clara Amfo: I definitely carried with me.
Alex Legouix: That sort of competitive spirit?
Clara Amfo: Yeah. But it was in a sense of not even
Clara Amfo: not trying to compete with anybody else to sort of like-
Alex Legouix: Competing with yourself.
Clara Amfo: Yeah, exactly. Exactly, exactly that. And it's funny, because I
Clara Amfo: was on KISS FM before and obviously KISS is... That's a very reputable station,
Clara Amfo: but it wasn't until I joined the BBC and my dad was like, "Oh,
Clara Amfo: okay, all right." And then I think I was a
Clara Amfo: guest on a Radio 4 show or something and he
Clara Amfo: was like, " I see." Because it's those sort of things.
Clara Amfo: For example, me doing Strictly and I'm someone who's like,
Clara Amfo: I've sat across Kendrick Lamar, Jay- Z, Ariana Grande, whoever,
Clara Amfo: just Strictly and all of a sudden, my mom and all of my auntie
Clara Amfo: friends like, " Oh wow!"
Alex Legouix: Now you've made it there.
Clara Amfo: Yeah, yeah. It makes my own peer group. It is funny, isn't
Clara Amfo: it, what people perceive as the thing?
Alex Legouix: Yeah. Was Strictly fun?
Clara Amfo: Oh, I loved it. Absolutely loved it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Alex Legouix: Yeah.
Clara Amfo: It was wicked. Don't get me wrong, it was physically,
Clara Amfo: emotionally intense. It is just, you're in this bubble because you just eat,
Clara Amfo: breathe and sleep dance, dance training and performance ever. But it
Clara Amfo: is honestly, the most... Yeah, it is the most fun thing I've
Clara Amfo: ever done.
Alex Legouix: Can you still remember the dances?
Clara Amfo: Oh yeah. No, honestly, it's so funny. The way muscle memory works is
Clara Amfo: so interesting. Because I remember my first dance was to Dua Lipa,
Clara Amfo: Don't Start Now and I still remember that choreography like
Clara Amfo: that.
Alex Legouix: That comes on the radio, you're up?
Clara Amfo: Oh, no, no. I still remember it. Sometimes I have been
Clara Amfo: at things, I'll be like, " Go on then, go on." I'm just like, " Don't threaten
Clara Amfo: me with a good time because I might just do
Clara Amfo: it, hun. I might just do it." Oh, what a lovely day.
Clara Amfo: This is Tower Bridge. But I'm based in East London.
Clara Amfo: Sometimes I'll walk from home to here. So I've got
Clara Amfo: a few mates that live around these sides. It'll take
Clara Amfo: about an hour and a half, but it's such a lovely
Clara Amfo: walk. The sky is blue.
Alex Legouix: Sky is blue. Does the weather affect you?
Clara Amfo: Absolutely. Yeah. We are literally mammals energized by the sun. Do you know what I mean?
Clara Amfo: Sometimes all you just need is that... It's that vitamin D band,
Clara Amfo: but I'm such a summertime flight baby. I would rather
Clara Amfo: be too hot than too cold, which is why I'm
Clara Amfo: living for these heated seats in this car.
Alex Legouix: Yeah, agreed.
Clara Amfo: That's my joy. Or just frolicking in my local park.
Alex Legouix: What is your mood lifter music?
Clara Amfo: That is a great question. What is my mood lifter music
Clara Amfo: at the moment? I love Salon. I mean, do you
Clara Amfo: know what? I'm obsessed, I mean, everyone knows I'm one of Beyonce's
Clara Amfo: biggest fans and that Renaissance album, I've been rinsing it...
Clara Amfo: Because that came out in July of last year and
Clara Amfo: I've played that album every day since. And it just gets
Clara Amfo: me fired. I love it. It's excellent. All killer, no filler .
Alex Legouix: This is a colorful area.
Clara Amfo: Yeah, we're on Brick Lane now.
Alex Legouix: Nice.
Clara Amfo: Yes. Brick Lane, Brick Lane area or Whitechapel really, but it's all connected.
Clara Amfo: So there's a really big Bengali and Bangladeshi community round here.
Clara Amfo: You can get great South Asian food around this area.
Clara Amfo: But again, this is why I love London because you
Clara Amfo: just get a lesson in other people's cultures like borough
Clara Amfo: to borough.
Alex Legouix: Do you feel the restrictions from your fame or are
Alex Legouix: you still able to go into the markets?
Clara Amfo: Do you know what I live in... Because my whole thing is, I've always said that you're
Clara Amfo: only as famous as you act, I think. Obviously, there's
Clara Amfo: nuance to everything, but if you are walking around in
Clara Amfo: a cap and sunglasses on a day where you don't
Clara Amfo: need cap and sunglasses, if it's not sunny-
Alex Legouix: You're highlighting yourself.
Clara Amfo: If anything, I'm like, " Oh, why has that person got a cap and sunglasses on? Are
Clara Amfo: you quote, unquote somebody?" But usually people are just like, "Oh, it's Clara, you're all right? How's it going? Cool." Or, "
Clara Amfo: Do we go to school together?" Or, " Why do I know you?"
Clara Amfo: But it's never a thing of like, " Oh my God, I'm getting chased down
Clara Amfo: the street." But I think, yeah, again, you're only as
Clara Amfo: famous as you act. I think if you caught it
Clara Amfo: and you do the most to fan the flames, I
Clara Amfo: think that's when you get into a tricky situation. I
Clara Amfo: would sooner die than bloody call the paparazzi on myself
Clara Amfo: because please believe it baby. Sorry to like... I believe it's
Clara Amfo: really important to tell the truth and listen, I hate
Clara Amfo: to break it to anyone who's listening, but you'd be
Clara Amfo: surprised and you may or may not have to cut this bit out,
Clara Amfo: but I don't care. I don't care. I'll tell you
Clara Amfo: the truth. But there are people who call the paparazzi on themselves. My God.
Alex Legouix: Yes.
Clara Amfo: You would be shocked. And then people are like, " Oh my God,
Clara Amfo: I wish the paps would leave me alon ." Your publicist called them and
Clara Amfo: told them that you were going to be outside this cafe with
Clara Amfo: whoever and they act like you didn't know.
Alex Legouix: So true.
Clara Amfo: Oh my God, what are you doing it? You knew they were going to be here. You can't do that and then be like, "
Clara Amfo: Oh my God, the fame."
Alex Legouix: Yeah.
Clara Amfo: Do you know what I mean? And if it ever gets revealed that
Clara Amfo: I called paparazzi on myself, please use this interview and be like, "Clara,
Clara Amfo: you hypocrite and you idiot."
Alex Legouix: You heard it here.
Clara Amfo: And I say that with my chest. I will never
Clara Amfo: do that as long as I live. I'll say this,
Clara Amfo: Adele is probably one of the most famous women on
Clara Amfo: the planet. When that woman is not releasing music, do
Clara Amfo: you ever see or hear a peep from her?
Alex Legouix: No.
Clara Amfo: Exactly. It's a choice. It's a choice. But then there are some
Clara Amfo: people who are relentlessly pursued and they don't have a choice. Again,
Clara Amfo: there is nuance to everything, but there is a way
Clara Amfo: to control it. So I just think, don't... Yeah, you don't have
Clara Amfo: to lean in.
Alex Legouix: So we're just by-
Clara Amfo: Have a peaceful life. Yes.
Alex Legouix: ... the Genesis Cinema.
Clara Amfo: Yay.
Alex Legouix: This is where you come?
Clara Amfo: Yeah, it's one of my favorite cinemas. I love a cinema that's just
Clara Amfo: got character to it. And if there's one thing, a
Clara Amfo: cinema trope I adore is old school-
Alex Legouix: Yeah. It looks old school.
Clara Amfo: ... cinema lettering for the signage to let you know
Clara Amfo: what's on. Just how the Ritzy in Brixton has got
Clara Amfo: that style. I love that about Genesis. And they're really good
Clara Amfo: at doing good one- off nights and themed months and
Clara Amfo: things, which I think is really cool. But don't get me wrong,
Clara Amfo: I enjoy your sort of big chain cinemas and I am
Clara Amfo: not adverse to a reclining chair and being able to
Clara Amfo: eat and drink a cute meal in a cinema. But
Clara Amfo: there is something about just those really preserved spaces.
Alex Legouix: Is it as old school inside as well as it looks outside?
Clara Amfo: Yeah. And obviously they've adapted and stuff, but I just think,
Clara Amfo: yeah, just that lived in energy. I don't know, I imagine who
Clara Amfo: was there 50 years ago. One of my favorite things
Clara Amfo: is going to the cinema by myself. Funny enough, I'm planning
Clara Amfo: to go and see the latest Scream movie on my ones because
Clara Amfo: none of my friends will go with me to see
Clara Amfo: it. I really, really enjoy them now. My mates will
Clara Amfo: come to noir with me to a romcom or just a
Clara Amfo: com or an action movie or whatever. But I was like, "
Clara Amfo: What happened to all of you lot? Come on. Is everyone
Clara Amfo: like... " But yeah, everyone's a scaredy cat. But yeah, funnily
Clara Amfo: enough, when I wanted to go see Magic Mike, all
Clara Amfo: the girlies wanted to come. I went to see Magic
Clara Amfo: Mike's Last Dance at the cinema with a few mates.
Clara Amfo: Actually, no, just with one mate. And that was hilarious
Clara Amfo: and we laughed and sighed the whole way through.
Alex Legouix: Do you have a lot of fond memories of going
Alex Legouix: to the cinema or watching films when you were younger
Alex Legouix: as well?
Clara Amfo: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. It's always the thing. My mum always used
Clara Amfo: to fall asleep in cinema. Yeah, no, I loved going
Clara Amfo: to cinema as a kid. Loved trying to get into
Clara Amfo: films that I wasn't old enough to watch. I remember I went
Clara Amfo: to try and see... I can't remember what film was, but it was a film.
Clara Amfo: I think I was 14, it was 15. My mum had
Clara Amfo: that perfume. It was called Poison.
Alex Legouix: Oh yes.
Clara Amfo: My dad had bought it for her as a gift.
Clara Amfo: And she'd held onto the bottle for 20 years or whatever.
Clara Amfo: And I doused something because I was like, " Yeah, this is
Clara Amfo: what teenagers do. They wear fancy perfume and wear button-
Clara Amfo: up shirts or whatever." And I remember me and my friend,
Clara Amfo: I think it's... What's it? I can't remember who it was, but I think me and a couple
Clara Amfo: of school friends, we were like, " Yeah, we're old enough." And
Clara Amfo: they were just like, "No, you're not going home." I was like, "Okay, fine ." But, but again, those are formative things
Clara Amfo: because it's just about independence, isn't it?
Alex Legouix: Yeah.
Clara Amfo: And I think there's something about going to cinema without your parents.
Alex Legouix: Yes. That's so true.
Clara Amfo: It makes you feel like a proper grownup. Or going to the local,
Clara Amfo: going swimming, all those, or getting a train by yourself
Clara Amfo: for the first time. They're rights a passage, aren't they?
Alex Legouix: Yeah, they are really important.
Clara Amfo: Yeah, proper.
Alex Legouix: So we're being taken through Shoreditch.
Clara Amfo: Yeah.
Alex Legouix: Do you know this sort of area?
Clara Amfo: I know this area extremely well, like the back of my
Clara Amfo: hand. This area I cycle through a lot, pass through
Clara Amfo: a lot, got a lot of good gig memories here.
Clara Amfo: And yeah, just nights out really. And yeah, late night
Clara Amfo: food stops because there's so many kebab shops here that
Clara Amfo: I've definitely gotten a falafel wrap from and chips.
Alex Legouix: Is that a go-to at the end of the night?
Clara Amfo: In the middle of the night. Oh yeah, yeah. Definitely. Chomping down chips at 3:
Clara Amfo: 00 AM.
Alex Legouix: Yeah. Your journey to starting at KISS was quite unorthodox,
Alex Legouix: wasn't it?
Clara Amfo: Yeah, because I always had an interest in broadcast, but
Clara Amfo: for a little bit I was like, " You know what?
Clara Amfo: I'm just going to work behind the scenes. I don't
Clara Amfo: need to put myself out there." And looking back now,
Clara Amfo: it was just a fear thing. Because again, going back
Clara Amfo: as the thing about, that almost reverse imposter syndrome. It wasn't
Clara Amfo: a thing of me not thinking I wasn't capable. I
Clara Amfo: think I was just afraid to put myself out there.
Clara Amfo: Even though I knew I was capable, I was a
Clara Amfo: bit like, " Oh no, I'm not going to do that." So I just didn't. I was like, " You know what?
Clara Amfo: I'm cool. I'll just help out marketing, intern." So I
Clara Amfo: was helping out doing everything. So I'd go to Ministry
Clara Amfo: of Sound Nightclub and scrape off the KISS branding stickers
Clara Amfo: that we'd put up there the night before for the
Clara Amfo: club nights, give out merchandise. I'd stand outside the big
Clara Amfo: top shop, RIP on Oxford Street, trying to stop people
Clara Amfo: to get voxbox to use for the station, in- house adverts, all
Clara Amfo: those types of things. But I always knew that, " Oh,
Clara Amfo: I'd love to be able to do the radio bit." And I was always
Clara Amfo: having these sort of sparring matches with my old boss, like, "
Clara Amfo: Why don't you play this song? That song's so out
Clara Amfo: now." I'm like, " Why are you doing that to this?
Clara Amfo: You should be doing this," and dah dah dah dah
Clara Amfo: dah. And so eventually that one Christmas he was off
Clara Amfo: for God's sake, and then he was just like, " This person's gone
Clara Amfo: away and this person's got a cold, so do you want to cover this
Clara Amfo: show on Christmas Eve?" And I was like, " Oh my God." I was like, "
Clara Amfo: Yes," sprinted to the studio as soon as I got
Clara Amfo: the chance to, to be honest. So Christmas came around and I covered
Clara Amfo: some shows and they were prerecorded. But the first time I
Clara Amfo: went live, it was Saturday morning, a 4: 00 AM
Clara Amfo: till 6: 00 AM stop. And I was so buzzing
Clara Amfo: on adrenalines. I remember I set my alarm, probably for 02: 00 or even 01:
Clara Amfo: 00 because I think I was so paranoid I was
Clara Amfo: going to sleep through my alarm. And then, yeah, got
Clara Amfo: to the studio and then my old boss, Simon, who'd
Clara Amfo: really sort of mentored me, produced a show. I remember
Clara Amfo: thinking like, " Yeah, man, this is absolutely what I'm supposed
Clara Amfo: to be doing. I love doing this."
Alex Legouix: Were you nervous?
Clara Amfo: Oh yeah, I was shitting myself. I was so nervous. So nervous. But
Clara Amfo: I enjoyed it so much that I just wanted to
Clara Amfo: come back and do it and just learn to be
Clara Amfo: better. And it was such a great... Yeah, it was just such
Clara Amfo: a great feeling.
Alex Legouix: And were you then like, " That's it?"
Clara Amfo: Yeah.
Alex Legouix: " I'm in, this is what I'm doing?"
Clara Amfo: Yeah, absolutely. I was like, no, I just remember thinking... Because bearing in mind at that
Clara Amfo: same time, I was still working in the office Monday
Clara Amfo: to Friday because I had been promoted from sort of
Clara Amfo: work experience intern to be... They gave me this job
Clara Amfo: lesson. They made up a job for me and it
Clara Amfo: was called station coordinator. But doing that, honestly, it was
Clara Amfo: invaluable because it really gave me a work ethic, which
Clara Amfo: I really cherish. Because when you understand how the sausage
Clara Amfo: is made, you see all the working parts of a radio
Clara Amfo: station or any sort of any workspace, but particularly radio,
Clara Amfo: TV, when you see it like that, it almost gives
Clara Amfo: you an armor from sort of being a brat because you
Clara Amfo: just know the moving parts.
Alex Legouix: Yeah.
Clara Amfo: We're in Camden right now and the houses are beautiful round here.
Alex Legouix: They really are.
Clara Amfo: So, so, so, so, so lovely.
Alex Legouix: Do you think that London is a pioneer for music
Alex Legouix: and new music?
Clara Amfo: Oh, absolutely. A hundred percent. I don't think it's the sense with the universe
Clara Amfo: for it, but it's absolutely a hundred percent a leader.
Clara Amfo: We're in Camden, which is, I think... When I think
Clara Amfo: of Camden, I think of Amy Winehouse. There's a whole
Clara Amfo: statue of her here. But there are so many iconic leaders who have
Clara Amfo: come out of London for music. But yeah, zoning on
Clara Amfo: Amy, that's somebody that truly made it accessible, hip hop
Clara Amfo: influence, R& B influence, just so cool and so unique
Clara Amfo: and truly a one of one artist. And that's a
Clara Amfo: proud North London girl. Actually, I saw her at KOKO
Clara Amfo: actually, where we're going to. Yeah, I remember because I remember
Clara Amfo: being in the queue and seeing her walk by with
Clara Amfo: her security and her being... I remember her being like, " Wow," because
Clara Amfo: she couldn't believe all these people had come to see her. And that
Clara Amfo: was a really, really fun gig. And you look back
Clara Amfo: on moments like that and you just realize how privileged you were
Clara Amfo: to see somebody of that ilk, just being them. Ultimately,
Clara Amfo: who she was was just a really great artist. And you
Clara Amfo: could tell she had a lot of pride performing at
Clara Amfo: somewhere like KOKO, because that's somewhere that she would've no
Clara Amfo: doubt been going to as well. But yeah, that was
Clara Amfo: a really special gig. Yeah, memory unlocked with that one.
Alex Legouix: So we're outside KOKO now.
Clara Amfo: We are outside KOKO. And yeah, I just literally remember just
Clara Amfo: being in a queue and it curling around to get
Clara Amfo: into that print show. But then there's been times I've walked straight in
Clara Amfo: because I've had a gig early or whatever. But yeah, it's
Clara Amfo: such a fab venue. And they had that fire a
Clara Amfo: little while ago.
Alex Legouix: Oh yes, of course.
Clara Amfo: Obviously, so I'm feeling it's been renovated now. But yeah, it's just iconic.
Alex Legouix: So we're on our way now to Broadcasting House.
Clara Amfo: Yeah. Yes, we are.
Alex Legouix: World of Radio 1.
Clara Amfo: That's it. Portland Place.
Alex Legouix: What was the feeling when you knew you were making
Alex Legouix: that step up or step over, I guess?
Clara Amfo: Bit of fear, fear, excitement, overwhelmingness. Because I remember when I first
Clara Amfo: like demoing for Radio 1, when I was sitting at
Clara Amfo: KISS and they're around the corner from each other. And obviously it was
Clara Amfo: top secret, so I would sneak. I'd finish my work
Clara Amfo: day or during a lunch break, I would sneak around
Clara Amfo: the corner to Broadcasting House and try and go in
Clara Amfo: the Radio 1 and one extra building, incognito, hoping no
Clara Amfo: one would see me be quietly ushered in by a producer,
Clara Amfo: doing my demos and run back to work. And I remember I did
Clara Amfo: that on and off for 18 months on the sly.
Alex Legouix: Oh really?
Clara Amfo: Yeah, I think I did about, oh my God, eight
Clara Amfo: or nine demos. And then they finally offered me a contract
Clara Amfo: for Weekend Breakfast at 1Xtra. But yeah, but I remember
Clara Amfo: when you walk into the main concourse, there's that giant
Clara Amfo: BBC sign you can't miss, there's three huge letters. And
Clara Amfo: seeing that for the first time, it's a lot. Because
Clara Amfo: even now, every day when I'm going into work or
Clara Amfo: leaving work, there's always tourists out there with their selfie
Clara Amfo: sticks getting that BBC picture.
Alex Legouix: So do you still appreciate that feeling?
Clara Amfo: Yeah, I do because they're always decorating it with all the people
Clara Amfo: that work there. Because when you walk into the building,
Clara Amfo: there's a giant picture of Claudia and Tess for Strictly,
Clara Amfo: and there's a giant like... There's a TARDIS in there
Clara Amfo: from Doctor Who and giant Pudsey Bear for Children in Need.
Clara Amfo: And now there's a... Because the Broadcasting House is eight floors,
Clara Amfo: so on each floor, they've got blown up pictures of
Clara Amfo: different styles. There's a big picture of David Attenborough and
Clara Amfo: Harry Styles when he did Big Weekend for Radio One . And there's a big picture of me there, which
Clara Amfo: I didn't know they were putting up there. So I think I'm
Clara Amfo: in between Harry Styles and David Attenborough, which is great company,
Clara Amfo: I must say.
Alex Legouix: That's an interesting sandwich.
Clara Amfo: I mean, but I remember, I didn't know they were doing it. And then
Clara Amfo: one day I kept getting tagged in pictures on people's
Clara Amfo: Instagram. So it was like, Grimmy had tagged me in something, Greg, all my coworkers
Clara Amfo: basically, like, " What the hell? Look at you." And I
Clara Amfo: was like, " What?" Because I didn't know they were doing it. And it's like my big old
Clara Amfo: mug. But if you ever come to visit Broadcasting House, whether
Clara Amfo: you are a BBC employee listening right now, or you're
Clara Amfo: coming in for a tour, yeah, I'm there on the seventh
Clara Amfo: floor in full technicolor.
Alex Legouix: How do you prepare for the live show?
Clara Amfo: I do prepare, but I also like to shoot from
Clara Amfo: the hip. I have a basic knowledge of people, and
Clara Amfo: then obviously, we've got our research notes and stuff. But for
Clara Amfo: me, my favorite interview's about the human side of somebody,
Clara Amfo: because ultimately that actually tells you more about the music.
Clara Amfo: If it's a music artist anyway. You can find out about
Clara Amfo: the album, why they made it, how they made it,
Clara Amfo: sometimes by finding out about what's been going on in
Clara Amfo: their life like six months prior. But I love my
Clara Amfo: producers, because they are always mega prepared with a glossary
Clara Amfo: of bits and bolts. But for me, that's my... And
Clara Amfo: I always do my research as well, but that's my
Clara Amfo: preferred way of working for sure, for sure.
Alex Legouix: Well...
Clara Amfo: We're here.
Alex Legouix: Here it is.
Clara Amfo: Pulling up to the old Bib.
Alex Legouix: Yeah.
Clara Amfo: Oh, there's Shane, who is a very well known radio
Clara Amfo: Plugger dude and looks after all of your faves. Hello.
Clara Amfo: Was just talking about you, saying long time, no bloody see.
Shane: Lovely to see you. How are you?
Clara Amfo: You've been missed. You all right?
Shane: Yeah, yeah. Just going to do something in BBC in a bit.
Clara Amfo: Oh, fabulous. Well, maybe I'll bump into you in a bit. Well,
Clara Amfo: nice to see you.
Shane: You too.
Clara Amfo: Bye my love. Yeah, because I think pandemic wise, you
Clara Amfo: see all the pluggers up all the time.
Alex Legouix: Yes.
Clara Amfo: They bring artists in, but then the pandemic just changed
Clara Amfo: the game. And we did so many things. Like remember, I did
Clara Amfo: a Miley Cyrus interview, we had to do it, record it 10:
Clara Amfo: 00 PM our time so we were on her time in LA
Clara Amfo: to get the show done. Because yeah, just artists, it's
Clara Amfo: just, yeah. Corona changed the game, man. Wow. We are
Clara Amfo: home. We are here.
Alex Legouix: Well, it's been really fun. How has it been taking
Alex Legouix: a nice stroll around your haunts?
Clara Amfo: It's been really lovely and I want to thank you for your very insightful,
Clara Amfo: wonderful questions. It's been you know , because people ask me a lot,
Clara Amfo: the same thing a lot of the time.
Alex Legouix: Yes.
Clara Amfo: But you know what? Sometimes you ask the same thing, but it's about how you ask it.
Clara Amfo: And I really appreciate, I appreciate your choice of words, darling.
Alex Legouix: Well...
Clara Amfo: I truly do.
Alex Legouix: ... It's been a real privilege to have you, and I hope you liked our match.
Clara Amfo: No, I did. Listen, living for the heated seats, living for the chat, living for the general comfort and the snacks. Thanks for the snacks.
Alex Legouix: Thanks for the snacks.
Clara Amfo: For the snacks. No, a good time.
Alex Legouix: I hope you have a good show.
Clara Amfo: Do people call you Al?
Alex Legouix: Yeah.
Clara Amfo: Okay. I was like, I was going to call you Al earlier. I was like, is that over familiar? Thanks Al.
Alex Legouix: How do people call you?
Clara Amfo: People call me-
Alex Legouix: Do you got a nickname?
Clara Amfo: Clars sometimes. But it is mostly Clara or C. Yeah, C, Clars or Class or Amfo.
Alex Legouix: Clars.
Clara Amfo: People do love to surname me a lot.
Alex Legouix: Yeah, I get surname a lot.
Clara Amfo: You know?
Alex Legouix: Well, Amfo, it's been a pleasure.
Clara Amfo: Thanks.
Alex Legouix: Thanks so much to Clara Amfo for taking me on
Alex Legouix: a personalized tour around her favorite haunts in London. You
Alex Legouix: can see exclusive footage of the drive by heading to
Alex Legouix: the Autotrader socials. Look at the episode page for links.
Alex Legouix: You'll also be able to see the Mustang Mach- E
Alex Legouix: that Clara thought was very cool. Plus, if you didn't
Alex Legouix: know already, we are giving away a brand new electric
Alex Legouix: car for free every single month as part of the
Alex Legouix: Autotrader electric car giveaway. We've previously given away two Mustang Mach-
Alex Legouix: Es, just like this one, plus many others. So, if
Alex Legouix: you'd like to be in for a chance of winning,
Alex Legouix: head to autotrader. co. uk/ cars/ electric/ giveaway and find
Alex Legouix: out what we are giving away this month. And if
Alex Legouix: you're looking for a new vehicle, you can find your
Alex Legouix: perfect match at autotrader. co. uk. This is a new show and
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Alex Legouix: Show on the Road is a fresh air production for Autotrader.