1. When did you think about music as a career and what were your first steps into it?
I was always quietly hopeful that I'd be able to make music as a main part of my way of life. I was maybe too superstitious to ever declare it out loud, but it's been in me ever since school, really.
2. Best gigs you've been to?
Richard Dawson in Durham about seven years ago. I was in tears almost immediately. It was totally gut-bustingly brilliant; Hyperclean, a French band from Toulouse; and I saw Leonard Cohen play at Bercy in Paris a couple of years ago. What a showman and what a pleasure of a human being. Again, I was in tears for most of it!
3. Fantasy wedding/birthday party band?
The Precious Mings. It’s the best music to bug out to.
4. The record you'd take to a desert island?
Paul Simon's Graceland. I can never get enough of it. It's grown into part of my soul ever since going on holiday near the Dune du Pilat in France with my aunt and uncle when I was little, listening to it in their car. Very happy times.
5. And the book?
Maybe Always Coming Home by Ursula Le Guin. It's a kind of anthropological study of tribal cultures in the future. That'd give me something to mull over.
6. Top three films?
The Castle, Nausicaa, Swallows and Amazons.
7. Worst film you've seen?
Gorillas in the Mist. It could have been so great. The gorillas are excellent but the film was so bad!
8. Favourite authors?
JD Salinger, Ursula Le Guin, Dylan Thomas.
9. Pet hate?
Waste. Food waste. Resources waste. It’s maddening and unnecessary.
10. What's your favourite:
Dinner? Rice and natto.
Dessert? Gooseberry crumble.
Drink? Hot water.
11. Who is your best friend and how do you know each other?
Jesse. We met at his choir that he ran from his basement flat.
12. Is there a God?
Only when there are humans.
This Is The Kit play McHugh’s in Belfast tonight from 8pm (tickets £10). For more information, visit Shine.net. The album Bashed Out is out now.
