Miles Hunt - 'good looks and charm'

We're using less in the way of fiddles, mandolins and keyboards in general. Going back to a four piece guitar band, a la The Eight Legged Groove Machine. That's with the new material anyway.

We still have a love for so much of the older material. During the October 2004 tour we didn't play anything from the Never Loved Elvis period, as of the March 2005 tour we'll have Erica Nockalls on tour with us playing fiddle, so we are able to play some of those old favourites again.

This changes daily. I would say a pretty firm favourite is "Was I Meant To Be Sorry?". I love it's simplicity and it has class. I wrote it really quickly, same with songs like 'Sing The Absurd' & 'Can't Shape Up', I would put it up there with those.

And it is indeed The Midlands that I have escaped to. I was looking through a jaundiced London eye as I wrote the lyrics to the album, I'd been in London far too long, again. I committed the same sin as our present government, taking a view of the whole country without looking further than London.

I might not be the brightest bloke on the block, but I find no difficulty in separating my roles as a Dad & as a member of a band. The two have yet to cross over.

He wasn't, and still isn't, keen on "Head Count" a track from the latest album.

You should go over the books with our tour manager, the answer would be very obvious to you then. We love gigging & touring, it's really why we're in the band.

Back in the old days of hit singles, although it is something I'm very grateful for now, it was a hollow experience on the whole. Nothing very tangible about having hits, but playing shows is an enormously rewarding experience.

Same as any other member of the audience. We'll be doing 5 or 6 songs from 'Escape From Rubbish Island', 19 or 20 from previous albums & b-sides, this time including some of the old fiddle tracks like 'Circlesquare' & 'Mission Drive' & possibly 1 or 2 new songs that we're working on for the next record. All that plus our usual good looks & charm.

Hhhmmmmmmnnnnn.... Do I? I don't know, I love 'em all. There's toons I don't look forward to, not because I don't like them, but because they're harder to play, in terms of my energy levels, than others. Hopefully the effort comes across!

There's some great stuff from the Midlands that I'm hearing currently. Carina Round is still a national treasure, her second album "The Disconnection" is breathtaking.

From Stratford Upon Avon there's Dharma Drive, a four piece that I love. Great front man, sex beast of a bassist (Ladies, I'm serious), a beautiful & delicate guitarist in the shape of Suzie Indygo & a powerhouse drummer. They are one of those bands that had they toured with us in the early 90's they'd be huge now. Not that their sound is of that time, just that our audiences in those days were up for stuff that was genuine & exciting.

Through Dharma Drive I've had my attention drawn to The Great Blind Degree too, a band from Leamington. They have wit, combined with great power & melody. I'd love to see them benefit from this Franz Ferdi-whatever-they're-called popularity. I hear Talking Heads & other NY late 70's influences, the GBD just seem to use those influences with more respect & less theft than the stuff I'm hearing on the radio.

Let Tom at Spirit, my managers, know the details & we'll give it a spin, eh?

Now that question is, as I'm sure you'll appreciate with hindsight, not only plain silly, but possibly the most frequently asked question I ever get. Live with it...

Thank you, Miles. x.

Reviews, clubs, gigs...