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The Smiths weren't your average 80s collective, yet they're considered one of the most influential bands to come out of the 80s indie rock scene. Without The Smiths there probably wouldn't have been Oasis, Blur, Radiohead and other lynchpins of the 90s Britpop movement.

BBC Radio Berkshire's Phil Kennedy chats to 44-year-old Mike here about his memories of the band and why he feels the need to release a DVD, especially without the involvement of Morrissey and Marr.

Listen to the interview here or read excerpts from the interview below:

Does it feel strange to think that it was 25 years ago that it all kicked off?

"Yes and no. The amount of work that I've done since The Smiths would be enough to fill anybody's boots really cos I've worked with quite a few major artists since.

"But when you kind of look back at some of the things that did happen I think 'gosh wasn't I naive and young and innocent'. Well yes I was, but that's because I 'was' young!

"(I remember) the rollercoaster ride - that aspect of The Smiths, because our ascent to getting into the charts, it just happened so quickly. There was no time to take stock of the situation or to see what was going on.

"We didn't have any knock-backs or any trials and tribulations to achieve our initial success - it all just happened really naturally. So looking back on it, it does seem quite brutal, but I'm not complaining about it!"

You were just 19 when you hit the charts - how long had The Smiths been up and running before you achieved chart success?

"It was a matter of months, we met up in '82 - I actually still have an old demo tape that we recorded in December '82. And then the single came out next year and then that was it - we were off, we were up and running.

"I remember we supported a guy called Richard Hell at a club called Rafters in Manchester and I remember we were putting all the gear back in the van and then it seemed like a few months after that we were on Top Of The Pops."

"I suppose technically we did, because we were on an independent label.

"I think the term 'indie' kind of became a group with that shoe-gazing aspect with young lads looking at the floor quite glum, whereas The Smiths weren't like that at all.

"We were an independent band and that's what indie music was: a truly independent band rather than a label that hid under the umbrella of a huge major.

"And the success that we did have was mainstream but we weren't allowed to be too mainstream because there was a lot of people putting a lot of money into a lot of bands - as is the way it is now - and we weren't really invited to the party, so we made our own party."

Now about the enigmatic character like Morrissey as your frontman - was that a help or a hindrance or both?

"It was never a hindrance. It was sheer unadulterated joy to have somebody that was so eloquent and somebody that was so vital in popular music.

"Not only was he a good singer and wrote the perfect melodies for Johnny's tunes but he was broaching subject matter that wasn't allowed to be involved in pop music.

With titles like Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now and Girlfriend In A Coma you really broaching subjects-and-a-half aren't you!

"Even a track like Meat Is Murder - when we recorded that album I remember we were in a residential studio down south and I was a meat eater at the time.

"I heard the lyrics and we were sitting down having dinner and talking about vegetarianism and from that day I've been vegetarian and all my children are vegetarians.

"That should be the power of music."

And once the band split up, I know it got a bit hairy at one stage...

"Yeah there was a court case in 1996 about the distribution of royalties. Again that is something that we do talk about in the DVD but what myself and Andy are trying to convey is the celebratory aspect in what I consider to be one of the best bands to come out of Britain ever."

Do you feel Morrissey and Johnny Marr feel the same way?

"Eh, yes. I don't see any reason as to why Morrissey or Johnny would look at their experience in The Smiths anything other than in a way that formed their music apprenticeship."