A 13 year old (as at 2011) Tortoiseshell, one of the really mixed up colour ones, none of this blotchy stuff, this is the real thing.

A bit of arthritis in a front leg, but if there’s an interesting bird nearby the leg gets completely forgotten.

I share the house with a white cat, miserable little devil... so we take a poke at each other now and again. Such is life.

I actually sub-contract the music to some bloke who lives here, I found that paws aren’t really up to messing about with mixers, keyboards, guitars, etc.

How long have you been making music, you know, playing?

Well, Jools, quite a long time really, must be all of three or four years., er, possibly more.

And what got you into it?

Ah, dreams of stardom, fast cars, screaming fans, all that stuff.

Nothing superficial then?

No, of course not Jools. I’m seriously dedicated to all that stuff. The music too.

Angelina helps out with the mixing on occasion.

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In reality?  I’ve been playing guitar for years, started with folky acoustic stuff, then discovered Bob Dylan, then Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton and so on. First live band was a duo with a keyboard player/singer plus a few midi bits and pieces (I’d given up on acoustic and had gone electric) playing MOR pop. During this time I put together a set of original songs for a show by a local acting performance group; also provided backing music for a couple of other shows (not original though) - all arranged and recorded by myself.

After a few years of that I did a stint playing rhythm guitar with a 24 piece jazz band (that’s a way to learn extended chords!) but changed to bass guitar because I wanted to read dots better than I could at the time (it didn’t really work, I still can’t be too bothered with the dots, loved the bass though). Threw in the towel on that band when I moved to a different part of the country and put down the guitar for a few years (had to do up the house). That was a bad idea - if you play then never, ever, stop because getting back to where you were takes an age.

Got together with a couple of singers briefly then joined a band who needed a bass. I’ve been playing bass live exclusively since then.  The band didn’t last long, neither did the one after that; personalities, eh?!.

Responded to an ad for a try-out for a possible post-punk band (whatever that might be). It failed but the keyboard player and I decided to keep going along the progressive rock route. And that’s where Ipsos started - we found a stupendous guitar player (modified Ibanez Gem + VG99, at vast cost), a fabulous drummer (electronic drums, TD20, at vast cost), and a great singing voice & 2nd guitar. Interested? See www.myspace.com/ipsos1

So, I’m working on two fronts right now... Ipsos, where we’re trying to develop our own stuff, and Mitzi The Cat, who is strictly me plus whoever I can talk into singing for me (plus Angelina, of course). Lately though it’s been mostly Mitzi The Cat and working on Trance; love it, fast and furious (-Ish), which is to say, heavy 4/4 beat. Couple that with good chord sequences/melodic lines and it’s superb. Not to everyone’s taste I guess, but it’s better than the girl/boy bands and the X factor junk. ( excuse me, so opinionated... Just like everyone else).