I get nostalgic for things that didn't really exist. I might have a cassette from the first time a Melle Mel track, say, got played on radio in Manchester. And it might be a copy of a copy of a copy of a tape and there's all these weird nuances and distortions that have affected what I know as the truth, if you like, of that track.

You can sit in front of a computer and have a blank slate and be completely overwhelmed by the possibilities and not get anywhere.

To me, an untrained ear, a young person at the time, I would hear off the different feels, all these different sounds, and then years later realize that everyone had used the same equipment, just to their own ends.

You can't go back and edit during the live set in the club. In the studio it's different.

You can get the oldest drum machine out and whack out four sounds like a kick, snare, and two types of high-hat, and try and come up with the freshest thing on the spot. The gear can guide you - you can choose one bit of gear and it's obviously got its restrictions and its limitations, but at the same time, you've got to exploit what it's capable of and what it's best used for.

I know that there's a lot of room to maneuver in those kind of ghostly musical spheres.

I know Im not going to book everything I go in on, and thats just the nature of the business. You have to keep hustling and not get down on it. You have to keep at it and find your way in. Everybodys story is different.