Level 42 began in 1979 as a jazz fusion band, becoming popular through the 80s as it rode the new wave of British pop and funk sounds of the decade. They began on a small independent label, Elite Records and their output was well received. But these were the unashamedly ambitious 80s and the band set out to change their sound to a more popular format.

Creatively, it culminated in their most accessible album and biggest hit 'Running In The Family' album in 1987 and throughout the 80s managed to be both popular and respected for their musicianship, especially bass legend Mark King whose famed slap bass technique helped provide the core groove of many of the band's hits, such as Lessons In Love, The Chinese Way and Sun Goes Down (Living it Up).

Phil and Boon Gould left the band, this didn't slow Level 42 down, they simply recruited replacements and the band remained a powerful entity, particularly with their live performances. Almost 30 years later, Level 42 is still going strong, with a tour and new album, 'Retroglide' are both to come before the year is out.

You began as a jazz fusion band I understand. Was it a conscious decision or did your music naturally veer towards a more populist sound over the course of the 80s? We did come in on the wave of Brit Funk as it was called in 1980, thanks largely to Andy Sojka our first producer who was running a small indie label 'All Ears' out of Harlesden in North London. The fact that he chose to record the song 'Love Meeting Love' gave us a direction to start off in and it seemed to come with a ready made audience of jazz-funksters who frequented the all-nighters and weekenders at places such as Caister. That was cool and we were quite happy to try and come up with music that they liked, but latterly crossing over to a more mainstream pop audience was important to us as we needed to expand the fanbase, so we made a conscious decision at the beginning of 1985 to see if we could come up with a couple of big singles, and wrote 'Something About You' and 'Leaving Me Now' for the World Machine album which really helped us break the US.

What bands did you listen to growing up? My first fave band was The Rolling Stones at around four or five years of age, then I heard Cream and bought my first album aged eight. It was my first exposure to real improvisation and I loved it, then Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Rich, then an epiphany!....I heard The Mahavishnu Orchestra when I was 14 and I knew that's what I wanted to do.

What producers did you work with? And who was your favourite? How did they influence your sound? We have worked with Andy Sojka, Mike Vernon, Larry Dunne and Verdine White, and Ken Scott. Working with all of them was an education and they all bought something different to whatever we were doing. As a band we were pretty go ahead and knew what we wanted to sound like but you need someone there with a hand on the tiller to keep things moving ahead and not get bogged down with trivialities. And not blow the budget!

What do you think of today's music scene? I think that in 2006 we are witnessing a revolution in how we can enjoy music with electronic downloads and such, and what that has done is force the record companies to re-evaluate just what it is that the public wants. We are seeing many more bands emerging again and that has to be a good thing.

How do you feel about the free availability of music on the internet? What about file sharing and people having access to loads of music for free? Do you view it as theft or as a chance for your music to reach more people? It is a problem, for obvious reasons. I don't mind the shake up that the majors are having to respond to, but musicians have to eat too, and if you can't make a living writing and performing then what will happen?

What was the process for coming up with your videos? Did the band conceive them, or someone at the label, or the director? A bit of all three really. Promo vids were quite a new concept when we started and the emergence of MTV really drove the artform. What started as a bit of a laugh soon became an important part of the whole marketing thing, and unfortunately the 'look' started to be more important than the music.

How important a part in your success do you think your videos played? Given that MTV was just starting out then, did that influence your approach to your promo videos? I'm not sure really. We weren't the best looking guys in the world and I think that sometimes it can work against you, but there's no doubt that having a good clip can cover a lot of territory for a band, and is very useful when you can't physically be there.

Did you enjoy running a pub on the Isle of Wight? What did you have on the jukebox? Any Level 42?
I did open a café bar there in 1989 and had it for ten years though I never actually pulled any pints! We used to play some very nice jazz and latin music so the Level stuff never got much of an airing.

What does your new music sound like? Excellent, thanks.

Do you still keep in touch with any of the original line up of Level 42? I still write with Boon, and the new album Retroglide is released on September 11 th and features Mike Lindup and Gary Husband as well as my brother Nathan and Sean Freeman. We have a good tour coming up in October and all the dates are on the www.level42.com website.

Did you ever get to record in any exotic locations?
We recorded an album at Earth Wind & Fire's LA studio in 1983, and made the 'Staring At The Sun' album at Miraval Studios in the south of France which was cool.

Related Links:
> www.level42.com
> Level 42 CD - Amazon.co.uk
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