The Runaway Wore Black

"I haven't seen my children – my sons – in almost three years. My ex-husband turned them against me and is blocking all my attempts to contact them. As a mother it's just so painful and with Mother's Day around the corner I feel it all the more. We've just released the video for the song Mother off the new album – and I guess in a way it's me reaching out to my sons as a mother, letting them know that I'm here and that I'll always love them.”

Last year's comeback album, Living Like A Runaway, has proven to be a hit for Ford, with critics from around the globe praising its straightforward and gritty street vibe. A great deal of its visceral impact comes from the fact that the album was fuelled by Ford's fragile emotional state following her bitter breakup with husband Jim Gillette and her subsequent estrangement from her children. Ford herself readily admits that the circumstances of her personal life have made this record unique.

“When terrible things happen it takes you to a place where you wouldn't usually go to. If someone sticks a knife in your back and says 'die bitch' – as an artist you're going to write about it. To me, it was a way of overcoming the bad things – a way to pull myself out of the dark place I was in. I was able to come back and tell people what I went through. Artists do this – look at Nikki Sixx from Motley Crew – he literally died from drug abuse – but he survived and wrote about it, creating some of the best music of his career. This album represents me finding my inner strength and willingness to keep living. Everyone has to do this at one point or another in their life – I chose to do it with my guitar.”

Adversity is nothing new for Ford. As a teenager in the 1970s she stared down the inherent sexism of the music business to drive the success of the all-girl group The Runaways via her virtuoso guitar licks. Ever since, she's been kicking back at those who continue to insist that rock'n'roll is a boy's club.

“I do think that things have got better for women who want to play hard rock and metal,” Ford suggests. “Female performers are now accepted, unlike in the 1970s where you had to be a singer like Janis Joplin – God forbid one should want to play a guitar. I don't know what it is about that instrument… even female drummers were more accepted than guitarists. As late as the early '90s people would ask me, 'Who plays the guitar solo on Close My Eyes Forever?' It's unbelievable – who do they think?

“I'm proud to have been a role model for women in music and what I say to younger women who ask me for advice is to always follow your heart and don't let people change you. Things are better for women but you still have to be strong and go for it.”

Although Ford visited Australia in the early 1990s to deliver some guitar clinics, she has never properly toured the country. So now that she finally has the chance she promises that it's going to be worth the wait.

“We just want to come over here and rock as hard as we can. My band are amazing; we've been playing a lot of gigs so we're really tight at the moment and the fact that this is our first time in Australia makes it extra important. We'll be playing a little bit of everything including some of The Runaways tunes and stuff from my solo career – this is going to be a special tour and I hope you guys all come out and see us.”