Sugababes: 'Sisters living the dream'

By KATHERINE HOBY

They may be young, but babes in the woods they ain't.

London-based singing trio the Sugababes have already been around the music scene longer than most starry eyed girl groups.

They fly out today after a two-day, whistlestop promotional tour in Auckland. The trio were not keen to venture outside their heated hotel room into the chilly 13 degree C downtown air.

"It's freezing here. You talk about English winters but we're not going outside - it's popsicle weather," says Sugababe Keisha Buchanan.

She and her childhood friend Mutya Buena met Siobhan Donaghy at a party four years ago. What followed was the stuff every teenage girl who ever sang into her hairbrush dreams of.

"When we used to hang out with our friends we would all jam and sing and muck around anyway," Buchanan says.

"Some of our friends bragged that they had three friends who could really sing. We sung a song for a manager, and we were in the studio the next week."

The name Sugababes was inspired by the amount of candy they consumed during long, after-school rehearsals.

Because of their age - Donaghy is 17, Buchanan and Buena 16 - those around the teenagers were determined they would not be launched into the business too fast.

"At the beginning, we were all like 'let's do a single, let's do a single'," Buena says.

"But we were eased into it, and frustrating though that was at the time, it was the right time to come out - we wouldn't have been ready any earlier."

The Sugababes released their first single, Overload, and their debut album, One Touch, last year. The girls wrote all but two of the songs.

Despite their success they keep their feet firmly on the ground - they still live at home, juggle rehearsals and touring with exams, and hang around with friends.

Donaghy insists the Sugababes will outlast the present crop of boy bands and girl groups.

"We spent some time getting it right," she says.

"We haven't just been here three seconds. We know what we're talking about."

Buena says one of the group's biggest moments so far was getting a nomination for a Brit Award for best single.

"It was really nice to be nominated with the likes of Robbie Williams. We didn't win but we were in the same class, which was so exciting."

Buchanan says the Sugababes are passionate about their work.

"We eat, sleep, walk, and talk music," she says. "The only thing I've ever wanted to be was a singer. It's the same with the others - we're sisters living the dream."