Yes. I don't really know anyone who wasn't. If they weren't, they had a favourite song or loved a song that they didn't realise The Stranglers had done.

I met JJ in a little restaurant in Bayswater one night when I was promptly asked whether I could read. We did a few demos at his place and then I met Jet and I said, "Come on. Let's just get on and do it." Then I spent four out of five days with them at Jet's and that was it. My life was a changed place.

I probably didn't take any s***. They tried a few things on me; a bit of psychology. I guess I was fairly long in the tooth and I'd been around a bit. Maybe my cheek?

It's probably because we didn't all go to art college and were all desperate to be popstars. There's a shared intellect and integrity with us all. We don't want to do anything that we wouldn't like ourselves. We're always writing about some observations in life, state the of planet, state of politics. It's not premeditated. I don't suffer fools very easily and I don't think the others do. In the past they were asked stupid questions like, 'Are you going to have a fight tonight?' and they'd just say, "Oh yeah, because that's what we're here for, man".

I don't think it can be. The best quote I've got is that it would probably be easier to replace Mick Jagger than Hugh Cornwell, who I have a lot of time and admiration for as a writer, guitar player and vocalist. I think we probably get up people's noses because we carry on. We just do very interesting things. We started travelling round the world doing very unusual gigs. We went to Bosnia very quietly as opposed to some artists, who shall remain nameless, who thought it was a great idea to have your picture taken in front of the ruins in Sarajevo. We like to do things that we enjoy, that are interesting and that maybe we can help people occasionally. I guess that kind of stuff never gets talked about. 'Stranglers In Help Shock!'

Very. We went to Kosovo in April 2000 and, not only was it difficult personally because my father had died prior to that, but it was really heavy there. It was quite scary when you're driving through demonstrations and a mob is around your truck. For a minute it's quite exciting then suddenly you realise that you're driving the people off the truck. We were holed up in the hotel where all the journalists stayed and where most of the war was filmed from. We've done a lot of other things too. I've collected for prostrate cancer for years now. We've also worked for The British Heart Foundation, for cancer charities, Romanian children. My brownie points are going up here! We might get retirement homes free! Your life is an interesting thing and you must try and experience as much as you can.

It's difficult because it's a double-edged sword. It was a good concept but ultimately it put more pressure on me. Nobody would have known that because everyone was doing their best for me. I would have been foolish to try and mimick someone else; you have to do your own thing although I was constantly saying to JJ, 'Look, sing a couple of songs, because I need some help.'.

We did toy with the idea of dropping a consonant from the name and I'll leave you to guess which one. Maybe adding another 'g' and taking out the 'n'. We certainly weren't going to call ourselves The Bay City Rollers.

I think the band have always been able to do anything. Their albums were always slightly different. It was definitely different after I joined. It's become more adrenalised. It kicks arse on stage.

Not being afraid to try something different. Not being afraid to recognise failure. Always coming up with a great melody and very interesting lyrics. Refusing to be fashionable. Of course everyone always want to hear 'Golden Brown' - that's not a fashion statement, it's just the way it is.

We've been writing for some time. We've been working on some old material which we've re-recorded and we're writing new material all the time. We're holed up together for four or five days a week at the moment, so we've set up a boxing ring and a hareem! We're just throwing ideas around and we're trying to get ourselves in a situation where we've got an album to release at the end of the summer. We're still touring and playing festivals.

I think the band have always been able to do anything. Their albums were always slightly different. It was definitely different after I joined. It's become more adrenalised. It kicks arse on stage.

Not being afraid to try something different. Not being afraid to recognise failure. Always coming up with a great melody and very interesting lyrics. Refusing to be fashionable. Of course everyone always want to hear 'Golden Brown' - that's not a fashion statement, it's just the way it is.

We've been writing for some time. We've been working on some old material which we've re-recorded and we're writing new material all the time. We're holed up together for four or five days a week at the moment, so we've set up a boxing ring and a hareem! We're just throwing ideas around and we're trying to get ourselves in a situation where we've got an album to release at the end of the summer. We're still touring and playing festivals.

Not really. It's a bit of a ball. Men never grow up and it's fun to go out with your buddies.

Flying over The Falkland Islands hanging out of a Hercules. Refuelling Tornado bombers in mid-air is quite fun. Pilots trying to get your autograph is quite a laugh. And organic crisps! .

Yes. JJ does karate and I like sport. I'm an old geezer, but I like wakeboarding and snow boarding. We all doing something that's outside of the band that takes up our time. I write a lot and I've got a couple of solo projects myself. Everyone's doing something and it brings something to the band. If you live your life in a little box then you're never going to do anything else than what's in the box. With music and commerciality you're in a situation where you haven't got time to go through your writing to see if it works in front of audiences. You're on the treadmill. We've written a lot and tried to release as much as we can, when we can.