"Really, this year, the bass and the Chapman stick have been left firmly on their stands. I've been working on my singing and performing and doing a lot of writing. We've also finished our own studio — a small 24-track in north west London with an Otari machine and a Soundcraft series 2000/400 desk.

"And we've got a PPG which has been an integral part of the writing — a PRK (the performance keyboard), 2.2 (the free standing synth) and a Term (the computer terminal). It's versatility is amazing, but really one of the developments I'd like to see for '85 is more reliable software.

"The PPG can be a little temperamental. We took it on the road for a tour which took us all over the place, and we didn't have any problems, though we did have an exceptionally brilliant keyboard roadie, Chris Miring, who usually works for Joan Armatrading. But back in the studio, the PPG started to have a few tantrums.

"The capability for demoing seems to be where it's showing its colours at the moment. You can use it as a drum machine — a very expensive drum machine — you can call up any drum sound you want and the limit on sequences is absolutely vast — a whole song without any problem at all. On some of the demos we've been using double bass sounds and you cannot tell the difference from the real thing."

How about the instruments you use for writing the songs before demo stage. Any '85 developments there?

"I've been using the Roland JP8 linked with the TR808 and recently with the Yamaha RX11 drum machine and getting to grips with linking that with a DX7 via MIDI. The RX11 is a very comprehensive drum machine, though we did get ours in Japan when we were on tour and that didn't have a manual. We've been working it out as we go along."

How about the sounds?

"Well, in the studio we've actually been using a Bel BD80 digital echo which is lockable so you can store a sound inside it. So we've been sampling something into the Bel and triggering it with the drum machine... much like an AMS except it's a lot cheaper."

What about those moments when the Stick and the bass have been pulled off the stands?

"I have been working out stuff on the Stick but separately from the band because it turned out to be very classical. On stage in Japan I was using the Stick for one number and I'd just said in a magazine article that the belt hook should have been metal instead of plastic and lo and behold, the bloody thing snapped on me so I was holding this Stick between my legs, very phallic... all these Japanese girls getting excited at this porno Kajjer. Maybe that hook is something they can improve for '85. I'd like to go to this year's Frankfurt show and meet Emmett Chapman (the inventor) and hear his new album.

"I've also been using the Vigier basses, fretless and fretted versions. The fretted one's got the built-in memory (for setting up different tone and pickup configurations). It's a bit like a cross between a BC Rich and a Rickenbacker and that's the basic sound — you can get Precisiony sounds, but they still have that characteristic planky tone — takes me back to my Rush days with Geddy Lee plonking away.

Do you think the memory idea is successful? Does it need any improvements?

"It's a very, very good idea and really there are a lot of blinkered musicians working with bass guitars who are frightened of anything new. On the Vigier life would be far easier if you could use it with a radio mike. The guitar has a multicore cable that goes to the memory box on the floor. You can't put the multicore signal through the radio mike so I wasn't able to use the Memory version live, I only used the fretless."