Tindersticks, Σάββατο 21 Φεβρουαρίου, Badminton.

-1. How is the tour going so far?

We’re just about to start the second leg. It went well in November and December. We’re enjoying ourselves. And I think we’re playing much better than we have for a long time.

-2. You haven’t been in Athens for a long time. A Tindersticks concert is very awaited here. How does it feel to be back and what should we expect form you?

It feels great to be back. Athens was always special to us. We’ve had some wonderful times there. I feel we’re more like the early Tindersticks, the new songs have more freedom about them. We obviously play most of the latest record. But half the songs are what we enjoy playing from the past 15 years.

-3. Tindersticks did not release a record for 5 years. What happened on the meantime?

We needed time away to find ourselves again. Stuart made 2 solo albums, which I helped him with. And we made a children’s record, Songs For The Young At Heart. We talked a lot about what tindersticks should be. And we lost some friends, and made some new ones.

-4. It appears that the reviews you received for “The Hungry Saw” are very positive. Does that stress you a bit for the follow up?

Maybe a little. It was great to be back. Now we need to take another step. The next album needs to make a bigger statement in some way.

-5. In which way Tindersticks are affected by the fact that there are three of you left?

The new people we’ve found to work with fit in very naturally. And we’re playing with Terry Edwards on brass and Andy Nice on Cello, who are old friends. It feels like a big collaboration, that could be 3 people, or it could be 12. It’s more open than it was.

-6. I remember when I first saw you at Rodon Club in 1998, you were smoking non-stop. How do you cope those days that smoking is forbidden in England?

Well, I don’t live in England anymore. You can smoke here in Prague. But I stopped 9 years ago, so it doesn’t bother me.