What have Jesus Jones been up to of late? Are the band in fact still together?

It's been a weird year for us, lots of hanging about and waiting for things to happen...which never quite did. For most of the world, all of the promotion and touring (what of it there was) for this album has been and gone and so there's just about nothing going on now. However, we still haven't had a release in the US (it's due early next year) and so until we get a crack at was our most successful part of the world, we are most definitely still together.

Do you feel vindicated or do you feel a little bitter now that bands such as The Chemical Brothers, Prodigy etc are being so successful with essentially very similar stuff to what you were coming out with over 5 years ago?
Do you feel that Jesus Jones were a little before their time?

I don't feel bitter at all, I think there are major differences between Jesus Jones and those bands. As for the Prodigy, what seems to be ignored is that they were actually hugely successful before the mainstream press woke up to them a couple of years ago - they were a big influence on us hence their '93 remix of Zeroes & Ones and so it's ridiculous to suggest they are following in our footsteps.

I don't think we were pioneers, ahead of our time : we were just paying attention back then.

At the height of your success you were lumped in with the baggy scene, together with the rest of the "indie/dance" mob. Did you feel any affinity with the other bands of that era? Was there any animosity shown towards you by bands that saw themselves as being more "serious", for want of a better word?

I hated being thought of as part of that scene and it used to really annoy me when Americans automatically assumed we were from Manchester. I didn't feel any affinity at all with the baggy scene, to me it was just '60s retro stuff with a different beat whereas I felt we were embracing the technology and the sounds of dance music as an integral part of the songwriting.

I don't remember any animosity from other bands, at least not face to face (although some twat of an American radio DJ stirred it up a bit by inventing a conversation with me describing the Happy Mondays as so drunk / drugged as to be incompetent - we had a gig with them the same night). The notion of a band being more "serious" is really a press one which unfortunately spreads to the readership. There are always differences of opinion about the quality of other bands' music and success and competition always distort the picture but given that all bands have to go through the same process to get success, it's stupid to think of one band as being more worthy than another.

What would you consider the highlight of your musical career?

There are a few because of the different ways of looking at that. The simple ones are things like having a number 1 album (Doubt) or single (Right Here, Right Now) or playing to 72,000 people at Wembley Stadium. There are a few songs of mine that I still really like and am really glad someone else didn't write them ; Info Freako, Right Here, Right Now, Idiot Stare, Zeroes and Ones, Wishing It Away, Top Of The World, February. And for the albums, I'm really proud of the last two, Perverse and Already for being done properly and as I wanted them, not hurried and shoddy like the first two. Perverse I like also because of the strength of the vision, the experimentation and because I was consistently truthful to the aims I had for that. Already, I think of it as being the most consistent album, the one with the best songs.

Do you enjoy playing live or do you prefer the experimentation and gadget-twiddling that the studio affords you?

Both and for the different types of satisfaction you get from them. A dubious analogy is to ask someone if they prefer love or sex as there are similar parallels.

Any ambitions left unfulfilled? Mountain-biking round the world like some indie/techno Michael Palin, perhaps?

Unfortunately for the sake of my happiness I always have greater ambitions than are realisable in one lifetime. Yep, being an indie/techno Michael Palin (Mike on a bike) definitely appeals, as does having more hit records, touring the world again, designing web sites, writing, being a halfway decent dad, winning more mountain bike races and...maybe I'll stop there for now.

What is your favourite song that you recorded. Me, I still have a soft spot for Info Freako (and I still have the skateboard stickers too).

OK so I've really answered this one already but...it's a choice between Wishing It Away from Already and Idiot Stare from Perverse. Or maybe it's...

What do you see the future having in store for Jesus Jones - and for yourself?

Very unsure right now. All I'm thinking about as far as the band's concerned is the US release and tour. What's complicating things is that EMI in the UK have offered me a solo deal but like I said, until we do things in the US, everything else goes on hold..

Do you see the internet taking off as a means of band promotion? At the moment, it's a pretty under-used medium with a lot of bands having a grainy picture, a few words and not a lot more. Do you think the future lies in bands releasing material over the net, or do you think it's all hype?

The best promotion Already has had has been on the internet, either through things like this or via our web site. Admittedly, the non-digital promotion for this album has been crap but I'm certain the web is the way forward nonetheless. However, it will still really only work for bands that have reached a level of recognition that means people will have a name to search for, so mainstream press, TV, radio will always be important. However, once a band gets that far (and a small bit of press or airplay will do) then the internet has the ability to outdo all the other media by being able to BE all the other media ; sound, image and print.

Many thanks for your time and patience in answering these questions. Finally, if you had to sum up the spirit and manifesto of Jesus Jones in one sentence, what would that be?

Right here, right now.