Where are you both from originally and what was the music scene like growing up there?

I'm from Belfast, although I moved to England when I was eight years old. I lived in a place called Peterborough, about 30 miles from Cambridge and around the same size. Cambridge had a much better music scene and, from around 79, I would spend time either there or, increasingly, in London. I knew the Destructors - well Alan, anyway. They were certainly one of the more noteworthy bands to come out of the city. Andy Bell (Erasure) also came out of Peterborough. He and I had mutual friends, but we never met. How and when did the two of you meet? We attended the same secondary school, what you would call High school in the US. We had a couple of mutual friends. We didn't really socialize much until much later, around the time we started cooperating on music.

Had you both been doing music before you met one another? If yes, what kinds of projects were you involved in?

I was in a band when I was 13 - it was at the height of 'Punk', that was probably the nearest thing to that particular venture. I remember we performed 'White Light White Heat' to the school to lots of blank faces. When I was 15 I joined 'Tomorrow's Parties', which became 'Yesterday's Parties'. The name was of course a homage to the Velvet Underground - a recurring influence in my music career. In 1979 we released a track, along with various artists, on a compilation album by the name of 'No Cause for Alarm'. I left the band in 1980 with little idea of what to do next. It was at this point I started to get into a lot of West Coast music - and the Doors in particular.

Where and when did you buy your first synth? What was it?

It was a Casio CT-202 bought from a music shop in Leicester. I understand they have one on display at my local museum in South London (really). It was 8-note polyphonic, 49 key. It wasn't the most glamorous of keyboards but it was functional and had some really rich sounds. It had some fairly good string and brass sounds (particularly when put through a flanger) even the piano was passable mixed in with other instruments. I was guitarist first and foremost and this opened up a whole new world of sound opportunities to me. My first real synthesizer was a Korg MS-10, which I still have. This was monophonic but with dual oscillators, patch-bay, Pulse-Width Modulation, Frequency Modulation and a useful v-trig to allow it to be kicked off by other devices. A great synth for fat bass sounds.

What inspired you to choose the name Sudeten Creche and what year did you form the band?

The truth is, the suggestion came from my eldest brother who, by the name of Yvette Doll, something of a rock entrepreneur from the early to late 80s. He inspired us to some extent. I've often thought the world is a strange mix of the innocent and the sinister and central Europe has a historical relevance for upheaval and discord. I think the name captures that.

The songs are emotive and powerful. What influenced you in terms of music, philosophy, literature, or art?

That's a big question. For me, musical mood is invariably more important than notes or beats. Music should be like a distant memory; it's the feeling you remember more than the event that inspired it. As I already alluded to, I was very into the Velvet Underground from early on and the Banana album in particular. Nico's booming Germanic instrument of a voice, John Cale's viola and the thrashing guitars that was so ahead of its time has always been an influence on me. In terms of visual art, I was particularly taken with Bauhaus and Dada. It seemed to me that these ideas were often defined by what was missing as much as what was present - no clutter or self-indulgent frills - often minimalist.

What is your approach to song writing? Do you share the process or take on specific roles?

I'd like to say we share, but in truth we really don't. What tends to happen is that we each bring ideas, sometimes pre-fabricated prototypes and bounce that around. We often arrange each others material to the point where it becomes a joint effort. At other times we brought more completed material to the table and it was a simple case of either selecting it or not.

What goals did you have as a band? Did you play live?

I'm not sure we had any goals - apart from wanting to create things. We had ideas we wanted to capture and listen to. If others also liked it, that would be a bonus. Sudeten Creche played one live event. It was at the University of London, supporting Nico on the opening of her 1983 European UK tour. It was a sizable venue and I remember the fold-back wasn't set up right for our set, which meant we had to play to sound bouncing off the back wall. Nico was gracious and warm - much warmer than the cold of her nihilistic set, which I recall opened with 'The End' - what a character. We talked before her set and she signed one of her records for me, with 'A kiss for the Creche'.

Can you tell us about other bands that were playing at the time that influenced you musically or otherwise.

So many - for me personally, Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, DAF, Pere Ubu, Cabaret Voltaire, Human League, Joy Division - also Teardrop Explodes, Echo and the Bunnymen and an unhealthy measure of TG and the Doors.

What were the events leading up to the inclusion of SC tracks on the "Europe in the Year Zero" compilation (1982)? Tell us about the SPhonograph label. Was it related to the Illuminated label?

We had intended to produce an E.P. Yvette founded Sexual Phonograph and a few other labels. Yvette also partnered with Keith Bagley from Illuminated Records. They had a similar portfolio at one time - consisting of avente garde, gothic, punk and minimalist artists. S/Phonograph distributed through Illuminated and IKF. Though they partnered on many things, they were always distinct entities. Yvette wanted to do a benefit record for 'No Nukes'. Vince Clarke offered to have 'Goodbye 70s' appear - with the express stipulation that the distribution didn't exceed a certain volume (I think 10,000). 'Upstairs at Eric's' wasn't released yet and I suspect they didn't want to eat into sales of Yazoo's debut album. Colour-Me-Pop was the other contributor. We'd known Michael White from 'Watch with Mother' days and they knew Depeche Mode and had played with them. There is much of the history that I either don't recall or never knew.

In regards to the Kindergarten 12" on Illuminated (1982), how many copies were pressed and who distributed it?

If I'm not mistaken we went to two pressings - each of around 3000 copies. Distribution was Stage 1.

Do you remember having fans? What were they like?

I can't say I do. I had people approach me once or twice to sign a copy of one of the records. 'Kisses' has been covered by the Chinese Detectives, so I suppose they liked it. By the way, I love what they did with it - it's so danceable and I'd love to hear that in a club.

Chronologically, this leads us to the break up of SC in 1982. Why did you decide to disband at this point?

We never disbanded, we simply didn't continue. From around 1983 we both did other things. We worked together again in 1990, but not on SC.

Did the technological changes in gear affect how you continued musically? How did that evolve from then to now?

Technology certainly makes many things easier to achieve. As much as I loved Kraftwerk, neither of us went down the computer-music route after '83. I think, at least to some extent, we were one of the relatively early adopters of mainstream synth music in 1981-1983. Once it became ubiquitous we opted to focus on guitar and acoustic combinations.

What are your day jobs and how did they affect the continuation of your music making? or perhaps they didn't?

I went into Information Technology in 1983 - first Sys Ops then Programming and so on. This has taken me to various parts of the world, including stints living in Asia and in the US (San Fran and New York). It's been very rewarding but hasn't allowed me much time on the creative side of things. I'm back in London now and I'm looking forward to changing that - making some room again.

From your perspective, what type of music were you making in 1982? Do you remember certain phrases or genres that the music was categorized as?

We thought it was minimalist at the time. We didn't think about that one too much. I once saw my vocals described in NME as resembling Jim Morrison - I actually liked that.

How has that changed between then and now?

One of the things that's changed is that I no longer tend to categorize and don't worry about what critics think. The fact that there are people out there who like what Sudeten Creche did means a lot to us.

What inspired you to continue with Sudeten Creche? How you did reconnect again after so many years apart?

We've been in touch over the years and when I returned from New York we picked up again. It seemed a little strange at first, but now we're back.

I understand you have some works that are to this day unreleased. What was the reason for not releasing this last group of songs?

We recorded a lot more material than we ever released. Some of this was bizarre and much of it was simply started and never finished. We're looking to complete some of these. Watch this space.

Thank you for your time and we look forward to an SC release in 2007!

Thank you for your interest and to everyone who has contacted us. Mark and I are very much looking forward what lies ahead. Completing the first Creche album is a personal ambition for both of us. Anyone who is interested in that should keep an eye on the website SudetenCreche.com. We're also considering one or more live dates in Europe in 2007. Thanks again Veronica - next time I'm in New York I'll make a point of dropping by in person.