Tell us about your latest album Subterranean.

    It's a redesign of some of my favourite music by David Bowie. Low and Heroes were two albums I really liked as a teenager and thought might work being adapted for improvising musicians / jazz – if we have to use that word – with the added electronica angle it is something I always wanted to hear someone doing, so I thought I'd do it myself (!).  

How is the live experience different from the album?

    What's been great about this tour (I'm three dates in) is that it's different and more every night – if that makes sense – playing this music and arrangements after recording the album gives it another energy – you have the recording as the template or blueprint – with that in mind you can really go somewhere – especially with this band. 

You’ve played a number of styles of music. What draws you to jazz?

    Jazz is the most expressive form for any musician and also the hardest to get good at – there's the rub! It's worth the time it takes to get near to what you'd like to get out of your head and onto the instrument – especially as the drums are not usually given as much scope as other instruments to be melodic and reactive to what's going on around them etc. 

What does the future hold?

    Got a crystal ball? Joking aside, I know what you mean; dates with another group I'm in with Andy Shepard with guitarist Denny Illett, finishing the new album with my dad’s trio and then preparing for recording and touring with Wilko Johnson early next year as well as additional dates with the Subterraneans project. 

This interview appeared in issue 28 of The Sussex Jazz Mag that you can view and download here.