Home is…
Dollis Hill with my missus, my kids and my existential dread.
Bus, taxi or Tube?
Bike. Fewer germs.
Which shops do you rely on?
Liberty ’cause its two minutes’ walk from work and has everything you need if you’re on a last-minute present run. Scarlet & Violet in Kensal Rise if I ever need to say thanks or apologise via the medium of flowers. And the guitar shops on Denmark Street; my biggest extravagance is buying Gibson and Fender guitars I do not need and will never play in front of other people.
Where would you recommend for a first date?
The Lore of the Land pub under the BT Tower, ’cause it’s close to work and the light is Rembrandtian.
Where do you work out?
Hahahaaa! That’s a good one. No, I don’t work out. I can’t work out why I’m still so chubby, actually. I don’t eat THAT much.
What would you do if you were Mayor for the day?
Have a decongestion charge sponsored by Vicks.
What makes someone a Londoner?
Being able to ignore a pair of buttocks in your face for 40 minutes.
If you could buy any building in London and live there, which would it be?
The Gherkin. It would be a bastard to get Deliveroo to the tip, though.
Best meal you’ve had?
At the Gaylord Indian restaurant in Mortimer Street on my 45th birthday, in 2017. A bunch of us feasted and got seriously Cobra-d.
What are you up to at the moment for work?
Doing weekdays from 1-4pm on BBC Radio 6 Music for tunes and total life minutiae. We’ve got our next 6 Music Festival in Camden from 6 to 8 March, which is so chock full of brilliant bands and acts it’s going to tear the roof off the Roundhouse.
Favourite pub?
I love The Toucan pub like most Londoners. Incredible Guinness and stellar views of Soho.
What’s the best thing a cabbie has ever said to you?
‘That’s free, mate!’ His cab was brand new and we were his first date. Apparently that’s a superstition among the cab fraternity!
Where do you go to let your hair down?
It sounds ridiculous but I do save up and go once a year for a massage and an afternoon of tots-free tranquillity at Akasha spa in Hotel Café Royal down under Piccadilly Circus. There’s something about the peaceful surroundings while being literally underneath the chaos that makes it all the more lovely.
Ever had a run-in with a London policeman?
I interviewed Stewart Copeland once on Great Portland Street, but apparently he’s American.
Where would you most like to be buried?
Under a mountain of my own fan mail, or under that big, gnarly, dead tree in Hampstead Heath in a hessian bag.
BBC Radio 6 Music Festival takes place in Camden from 6-8 March
