In the last four years I've realised that the net to me is an incredibly useful phone book. I've been amazed at some of the people I've been able to track down via the net. People like Yma Sumac the legendary mock Inca performer, and Severed Heads, an Australian proto-techno band.
How do you use the net? I use it to buy records, find artists and as a way of accessing hard to find information. Recently I traced some obscure Luis Bunuel films through American video sites ( http://members.xoom.com/scatt/bunuel.html ). It took about three clicks to get there. I think I spend more money on the internet now than I do in shops!
Is e-commerce taking over the net?
One of the things that really annoys me is the junk email. The amount of stuff I filter out now is ridiculous - Lastminute.com I save a special place in hell for.
Are you in favour of regulation of the net in general? I am always reluctant to go down on the side of regulation of any kind. I wouldn't ever advocate any kind of censorship but I do still want to punch the guy that writes the Lastminute.com copy.
How vital has the net become to your lifestyle? Email is now the primary point of communication between myself and the people I work with. I hardly ever send faxes and I'll avoid picking up the phone whenever possible. I've put gigs on at the Festival Hall where the entire negotiation, technical and contract process has taken place via email.
Any favourite places on the net? Finding Severed Heads' homepage at www.sevcom.com was a joy. There's a great Simpsons site www.geocities.com/SoHo/Workshop/3255 where some guy's drawn his versions and scanned them in. I also like the work of John Kricfalusi at www.spumco.com who did Ren & Stimpy but gave it up because he felt he had more freedom for a cartoon site on the net. Credit where it's due, I'm a big fan of the Guardian Fiver newsletter. I think the NME is very good but I wonder why anyone buys the NME anymore as all the information is there two days before it comes out.
Where do you see the net going? This idea of the internet being the death of recorded and live music is similar to what people said about cinema when video came along. I actually think it will encourage more interest in the music. I've been very keen to welcome people in to do web casting and recently iGig ( www.igig.com filmed Blur for their site. I remain sceptical about the idea of truly interactive live entertainment but it will come.
Do you like the anarchy of the net? I do like the idea of all the biggest companies in the world sweating because 17-year-old kids are developing technologies in their bedrooms that could destroy their profit margins! I'd hate to see the net taken over by the multinationals so you had to start paying for everything. I don't want to see the net stop worrying people.
