Hello. You have a new song out titled “I’m Alright”. What is the story behind the song and how did you create/write it? Also, what inspired the song title?
The song is a collab with Sean Buckley, he had released the instrumental and was looking for a singer to write & and perform vocals, I liked the tune and I came up with a topline in a few hours I guess… it’s just another example of the possibilities offered by the music Twitter community, Sean & I have never met in real life…. The subject matter was personal as usual with me, I’ve struggled with minor mental health issues and substance abuse to varying degrees throughout my adult life, but I’ve been lucky enough to remain “functional” at all times in the sense that I can maintain relationships & keep a job by putting on a game face at times. The song reflects that, & I to some extent I had the feeling that everybody I knew was pretty much in the same boat also during lockdown, it’s been a tough year for everyone, which is also why I wanted the tune to be an upbeat and “feel good” song, regardless, or maybe because of, the subject matter.

The song also has a music video. What ideas went into this and what was the filming process like?
I make most of my music videos with my mate Manuel Leroueil, we made films together for a bunch of years and we have good chemistry on set, Generally I direct & edit and he shoots the footage and does the lights, this time we directed it together, we had our children with us and we basically ad-libbed funny scenes on the go a few hours at a time over a period of 4 days, the rest of the time we played with the kids & drank beer, it was pretty cool.

If you had to describe your sound, how would you do so? Furthermore, what artists (or other sources) do you cite as influences?
I define myself as an alternative punky genre bender, but it’s anyone’s guess in the end. I make music that I like, that reminds me of different moments in my life, it’s about telling a story through different genres and styles, with me ranting stuff being the common denominator . My main influences are stuff i grew up on, Ian Dury, The Clash, bob Dylan, John Lennon, Tom Waits, Tracy Chapman , Leonard Cohen, The Rolling Stones etc… but I listen to loads of stuff, a lot of hiphop, lot of reggae, blues, funk, you name it…


What have been career highlights so far? And what is on your bucket list that you’d want to achieve?
Maybe I should, but I don’t really distinguish between my career and my life so the highlights are definitely my kids, my love affair with my wife, and building my house… then would be more or less any gig I’ve played & also once one of my short films was selected at a film festival and I was sat between Nicolas Winding Refn & William Friedkin, I was pretty giddy. In regards to my music, I released my first solo EP six months ago, so things have moved pretty fast, being played on BBC6 is definitely a milestone, & there have been a bunch of great reviews and awesome radio shows that have played my tunes, but I think the best thing that has happened over the last 6 months is to become a part of the Twitter music community, that really has been a game changer, it has given me so many opportunities and introduced me to so many brilliant artists & people of good will. I’m really chuffed to have a walk-on part in that war. I don’t really have a bucket list to be honest, I tend to be pretty impulsive and do random stuff on a whim but there isn’t much that I want to do that I don’t or can’t do, I also have a robust mistrust of fantasies, I’ve learnt from experience that the best & worst things in life come at you from your blind side.


If you could be the main support for any living artist, who would that be for and why? Alternatively, what would be your dream live booking?
That’s hard, I’d love to hang out with Tom Waits , he’s so creative whilst remaining a bluesman at heart , I love the way he’s twisted a formula into a thousand new shapes, probably wouldn’t be a very good intro to his music though… Dream gig off the top of my head, Asian Dub Foundation opening for the Chemical Brothers & Prodigy in the late nineties, with Aphex Twin throwing the after party and Portishead in the chill out lounge. Dream venue, it’s hard to say, outdoor festivals are awesome and each one has it’s own vibe, anywhere where they don’t frown on throwing beer 🙂


What artists have you been listening to? Additionally, who should others be listening to?
I have been listening to tons of new stuff this year… on the top of the list would be the Midnight Fuckboys, the Skinner Brothers, Ynes, The John Michie collective, Moonlight Parade, Orange G, Thunder Fox & Shark Star. If I had my way more people would be listening to Mondo Trasho, it gets on my nerves how little attention they get, they are absolutely brilliant. Then on the left field of the crazy spectrum “Performing in sensible shoes”, the “post industrial poets”, “notorious lightbulbs”, & “the brothers burn” are all great wonky bands that deserve more recognition.

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