This interview appears in Japanese as an insert with the CD version of this release.

1. Would you tell me where and when were you born?

I was born in Hornchurch in the county of Essex, England on August 10th, 1960.

2. When did you begin to play sax and trumpet? Who influenced you on playing
these instruments?

The first instrument I played was the piano which I took up after I broke my leg at the British Museum at the age of 5 and was housebound for a few weeks. I got a trumpet when I was 11 and studied that at school and in local youth orchestras. My first London gig was with the Havering Youth Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall! I bought myself a guitar when I was 13 and started playing Beatles and rock & roll covers in various bands with school friends. On my 18th birthday I was given an alto saxophone. My sax heroes initially were Earl Bostic and Davey Payne (the saxman for Ian Dury & the Blockheads). In recent years I've been inspired by John Zorn, Ornette Coleman & Albert Ayler.

I admire trumpeters Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan & Don Cherry very much, but wouldn't pretend to play anything like those jazz giants. Sonny Rollins is also a big influence - this New York New York CD features two versions of his tune "St Thomas".

3. Was The Higsons your first professional band? Why did you form the band?

The Higsons was my first professional band. I went to the University of East Anglia in Norwich to study music, but also to get into a band. The group was formed by like-minded students there. The drummer, Simon Charterton (also the NYNY drummer on most of these tracks), had just come off tour with Scottish legend Alex Harvey and was keen to form his own outfit; bassist Colin Williams had been in Liverpool's Wah! Heat in the early days and Switch (Charlie Higson) & Dave Cummings had just split from their band and were looking for another one. We came together over drinks & a desire to be pop stars...

4. The Higsons released a single on 2 Tone label, but they didn't release a
full-album. What happened between the band and the label? Or was there
no problem?

Our managers signed us up for a two single deal with Two Tone - the label did not have an option for an album, but in hindsight it would have been good to do one with them. I've recently been playing with Specials/Two Tone leader Jerry Dammers - we have a good laugh about the good old bad old days...

5. We can find a lot of elements of funk and jazz on the Higsons album. Was
it a reflection of your taste of music?

We all liked funk & jazz music of different hues, so you can hear Talking Heads, Little Feat, The Blockheads & James Brown in varying amounts in most Higsons tunes.

6. Did the Higsons still exist when you released New York New York's debut
single?

Yes, "Roger Wilson said" came out in 1983 and The Higsons were recording and gigging up until early 1986. It was my first 'solo' project, but I wanted to give the band a name rather than call it The Terry Edwards Experience or anything like that!

7. Did you think or refer to other musicians/bands when you recorded New York
New York? Who were they if you had?

The idea behind the music was to take rhythm & blues and it's British incarnation, pub-rock, and take out the most important element - the guitar - then see what was left. I'm not sure that it's a successful experiment, but it's an interesting way of working. The Chet Baker/Gerry Mulligan pianoless quartet is a good point of reference here - take the piano out of a small jazz combo and the players have to find a way of replacing it harmonically. Or ignoring it! I refined the experiment some years later with my cover versions of Jesus & Mary Chain songs ("Terry Edwards plays the music of Jim & William Reid"). I took away the vocals & the guitars and came up with really interesting reinventions of the songs - but I'd learnt my lesson from New York New York & actually put a rhythm guitar back into one song where it's omission was detrimental to the music.

8. Did the band name originate from a movie?

Well, it's from the city - and the movie - of the same name!!

9. We cannot find New York New York records at record shops these days. Does
it mean that they were not sold so much in those days?

I think there were less than 1,000 made of each title. Lord knows where they all went.

10. Could you tell me the careers of other members?

Drummer Simon Charterton spent several years outside of music, but has reinvented himself in recent years with some interesting projects including funk-noir outfit Zook, released on the Tummy Touch label, and Nitwood which is a Can-inspired collective which releases records on the Sartorial label. Brendan Cummings, drummer on the first NYNY session, has had a long and successful career in the aviation industry.

Keyboardist Steve Borowski is a consultant for a multi-national company. He is still composing and producing music in his home studio.

Since the turn of the century bassist David Lloyd-Williams has been working as a designer for a sports website.

Do you know what the other members of the Higsons are doing now?

Singer Charlie Higson aka 'Switch' is a very successful comedy writer & producer in the UK. He has published several novels, the most recent (and the best) is his series of Young James Bond novels, pre-quels to the world of Dr No etc.

Bassist Colin Williams is a speech-therapist. Guitarist Stuart McGeachin is a self-made businessman, and original guitarist Dave Cummings is a screen-writer for film and television.

I'm the only one who remained a full-time musician throughout, and I keep the band's back-catalogue available for downloads and licensing etc, so I guess I keep the music alive as part of the Sartorial Records empire.