Is there more pressure on you now or is it more relaxing?
  Mick Hucknall: There's more pressure in a way but it's the sort of pressure that I like. I had this album finished three times and I went to my management and say, "Here it is" and they'd play it and say, "No, it isn't". I was really upset the first time - my ego was bruised and I'd go back home and say, "I'm quitting" and get all emotional. I just kept going back and improving it until everybody was satisfied and that's great to work that way. I've got a great team around me; they're not sychophants or yes men and think that's good for anybody.

Do you think the record industry has changed a lot since the '80s?
Mick Hucknall: Yeah. It's changed enormously. Now it's for the quick sell. It's a shame because the younger artists don't get a chance to nurture their work. When I started I was thinking about the bands that were on Live Aid, how much they'd been nurtured and recording and touring they'd done. I keep using the example of U2. I don't think they broke until their fourth or fifth album. In the current market you wouldn't even get a chance after two albums if you didn't happen. I think they're paying the price now. They're selling music like soap powder. I came into this to make music, that's what I love to do, and now I've set up my own independent label I can focus on making music and not making soap powder. I feel good about that.

Who do you rate at the moment?
Mick Hucknall: I'm a really big fan of Dr Dre. I've liked his work ever since his first album 'The Chronic'. I really liked the sounds and the rhythms are really phat. I quite like the last Travis album. There are odd R and B tracks I like because the melody grabs me. There isn't someone out there who I think is the new messiah or that's really killing me, say like from the classic era, such as Bob Marley, The Beatles or Jimi Hendrix.
Is there anyone you really don't like?
Mick Hucknall: Not really, no.