WHAT RECENT GROUPS HAVE MEANT MOST TO YOU?
Nirvana are one of the most important groups to have emerged on the scene in recent years. Kurt Cobain's songwriting will be an absolute reference point with time. Otherwise I have lot of respect for Supergrass and the Beta band (a group who are very representative of what is happening in music today. The Beta band for me are pushing back the limits of different genres of music and harmonising perfectly music from different eras - such as Can, Velvet Underground and psychedelic rock). At the moment I am not listening to anything new. I prefer to listen to old records such as Fela (artist from either Niger or Nigeria), Ananda Shanker - son of Ravi who did mad sitar versions of "Jumping Jack Flash" in the seventies. I also listen to obscure jazz.

DOES CINEMA OCCUPY A PARTICULAR PLACE IN YOUR HEART?
No. My life is totally dedicated to music and I get easily bored at the cinema. The one time when I've been desperate to see a film was for the music that Ennio Morricone composed for the soundtrack of The Mission. I greatly liked Southern Comfort, especially the music by Ry Cooder. In both cases I concluded that, for me, a good film must have a good soundtrack. Otherwise I have fairly ordinary tastes. I mostly prefer American films such as Altered States and Sunset Boulevard.