The Japanese are huge vinyl advocates, more so than us Brits at times – but what is your experience of this?
i think that Japanese fanboys/girls listen to authority a lot more than the Brits.  If the authority says analogue is better, and Lord knows the authorities out there do, then that’s what the music fanboys in Japan will go for. I have no direct experience of this and I’m making vast assumptions but that’s my impression.  The closest Japan related experience to this is that 90% of the people that subscribe to my myspace blog are Japanese.  I have no idea why.

Where do you currently purchase your vinyl – and what is the most expensive record you have purchased and why?
My most expensive album was the complete Analord set including binder.  i got the whole thing for less than £90.  I’ve seen it sell on ebay for as much as £430.  It’s impressive to have an album that weighs more than 2kg… i wonder if that makes it the heaviest album on earth?  I think the most i’ve paid for a record was a pressing of Salt’n'Pepper’s “push it” on red vinyl or Cash & Marvellous’s “mighty hard rocker”… probably about £30.

What are your best / most favored pieces of music?
Tough question.  I can only answer that by saying which pieces of music in my life have been played the most.  Download’s albums “furnace” and “the eyes of Stanley pain” had a huge impact on me.  i didn’t write music for a year after hearing Furnace.  Bach’s Preludes and Fugues.  a lot of Mozart’s work.  Simply because there is genius in both their works, but Mozart has the undercurrent of darkness, turmoil but ultimately the burning light of his genius to doctor the pain that is evident.  Lee “Scratch” Perry’s Arkology collection.  Megadeth’s “set the world afire” had a huge impact on me as a teenager.  John Coltrane’s entire collection of “favourite things”.  i get what he was doing with that.  Stockhausen’s “Kontakte” because he invented the synth and it’s parameter’s in their entirety in one fell swoop as well as creating a stunning piece of music…  White Noise’s “love without sound” because i’d marry Delia Derbyshire’s corpse…  i could go on…  and on….

You are a classically trained musician deeply inspired by your parents love of music  – where did your love of beat driven music come from?
My mum’s from Belize in the Caribbean, so i grew up with cerebral reasoning classical music on one hand and visceral party music on the other.  My mum was into “pop” music, reggae, soca, punta rock, disco, as were my aunts and uncles who’d come over to visit or stay.  My dad liked The Beatles and The Seekers as well and later in life i discovered he enjoyed Slade too, but he kept that quiet for years.

You are currently holed up in a studio writing music for your new record, your last record was described as new-romantica – where is this one going so far and is it any closer to completion?
That’s a closely guarded secret!  I’m getting into the idea of keeping it a surprise, but i’ll try and give you some idea as to the direction. It’s quite a departure in many respects… some bands that have been mentioned by people  who’ve heard the new stuff are Beach Boys, The Cure, The Beatles, Spiritualized, Battles, AC/DC… so draw your own conclusions from that!

I will say that i wrote the first album without any idea that i’d play it live with a band.  Since i’ve had Lisa Kristiina (bass) and Keith Tenniswood (guitars) on board with the live show, I’ve been writing music that bears this in mind.

Do you have any specific ideas on how you want to release this album give that your last release was 1 year ago – to say, will you just focus on vinyl and digital, or does the CD still have a place?

I’m not one to go up to the DJ booth and train-spot and peer at what people are using before i decide whether i like the music or not.  If i’m “enjoying the music” is the only important factor.  A lot of shit music makes it to vinyl and a lot of good music makes it to digital. If medium were the only judge, vinyl (analogue) is better than digital, in terms of the way it captures and enhances any signal put through it. I could write you an essay arguing the case, to do with limited dynamic range, noise saturation… the physics of the whole thing… but then it becomes a technical issue and we’re not talking about music anymore.  You start to sound like Jeremy Clarkson talking about why old mercedes are better than new ones……basically, they just are.