I play a seven-stringed Turkish instrument called a saz. A lot of the music I play is improvised (but also folk musics from various countries). What I love best is travelling, meeting other musicians, and creating spontaneous music together. Sometimes I make recordings of this (which I prefer to trying to create ‘perfected’ studio recordings). The pieces used in JUST SO STORIES were made with friends on a farm in Southwest England, and also in the French Pyrenees.

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1. Some Favorite Childhood Music

I liked the children's songs I learned in school, then I got into classical music when I was 9 or 10. When I was 13, I discovered pop music ('80s synthpop at the time, most of which was terrible, but there were some good bits). I liked U2, and similar guitar bands, then when I was 15 I discovered progressive rock (Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis, King Crimson), and then some alternative '80s bands like the Cocteau Twins and Durutti Column.

2. Favorite Childhood Games

I played a lot of chess with my dad from when I was very young. We still play chess over the telephone! (He lives in Wisconsin, USA now). I loved inventing outdoor games with friends, combining rules from existing games and making our own versions, also badminton, frisbee, and soccer. When they started to appear, I loved video games, but never had a home games system, so had to play in arcades, which cost money (which I didn't have much of). I remember all the classic '80s games Centipede, Asteroids, Pac-Man, Mario Brothers, Xevious, etc., but I was never very good at them!

3. Favorite School Subjects

Mathematics! That was what I was best at, and I'm still involved with it.

4. Some Favorite Places from Youth

The garden where I grew up in Lincolnshire, and Tenby on the South Wales coast, where my family went on holiday. Also, I loved visiting London, as it was such a change from where I lived.

5. Childhood Heroes

Dr. Who (the British sci-fi TV character), plus various '70s British soccer stars

6. Dream Super Powers

I wouldn't mind being able to time travel (so I could go back and see all the amazing '60s and '70s bands I was born too late for). Also, teleportation would be useful, as I have friends scattered around the planet (New Zealand, USA, etc.) and would prefer not to have to fly to see them.