How did you first get involved in music?

I come from a musical family and first performed singing to my brother's trumpet (he led a jazz band in Derby in the fifties and sixties). Later, around 1958, I became the singer in a rockband called "The Vulcans".

How did the band SIREN come about?

This was formed in London by Dave Clague (ex bassist Bonzos) (Bonzo Dog Band) and Nick Cudworth, a student from Chelsea art school and friend from Derby. I was living in Preston, Lancs, working at Whittingham psychiatric hospital and joined them for some recording in 1968.

You have been quoted, as saying that your first solo album Case History is not just an album, but a whole period of your life. Could you say a bit about that?

The album reflects my work in Whittingham hospital and as a social worker for the Soho project in London. The intensity of it all reflects my concern and passion for the problems of the underdog. It's a record, dedicated to the unfortunate amongst us.

What was the inspiration behind Uggys Song on Case History?

Uggy was a black tramp teased and eventually murdered by, I think, the police in Leeds in the early seventies. I read about this case and decided to write the song. The memory of the event still haunts me today.

Could you talk a bit about the experiences that inspired the song House on the Hill?

House on the Hill is about Whittingham hospital, about the grey atmosphere, the primitive conditions and the rest. It's a song with a glimmer of hope, but not much. My time as an out of work drunk wondering around Brixton is mentioned too. It's a very personal song.