Music Q&A: Babybird

What informs your music and songwriting?
Peace and quiet in the house. Knowing where the cat is. That’s she’s safe. I clear my head of ideas and switch on the laptop I’ve used for 15 years, loop a beat and I’m off. Lyrically it’s anything that;s relevant to current life and nothing light like the words of a mass-produced love song

How have you evolved as a band over the years?
I’d hope we have though no idea how. We gel better and did a few gigs after six years of not touring, and was like getting back on a bike like it was yesterday. In the studio, it’s not changed except I can do it quicker or at least get to the finished article quicker.

What are you up to at the moment artistically?
In the last five years have released over a hundred albums on my Bandcamp site thestephenjones.bandcamp.com It’s has the DIY punk ethic of doing it without record company intrusion. It’s opened up everything.

What’s on your rider?
Sage honey and tea for the throat. Beer. Wine. Brandy. All the crap a man who’s had a heart attack, like myself, shouldn’t be near.

Tell us your most embarrassing or surreal experience.
I was in the Barfly in Camden and the surreal part: Kate Moss beckoned me over. We chatted and drank for ages but in the morning all I remember is being told by my girlfriend that I had arrived home with oil all over my trousers.

What song do you wish you’d written?
Alina by Arvo Part.

What’s your worst lyric?
“You’re gorgeous.”