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 Who would you choose if you could choose any guest?
 David Bowie would be wonderful; who knows maybe it will happen? As a child of the 1970s I consider him to be someone who changed culture through music more than anyone else I can think of. Apart from the Beatles and the most interesting guest Beatle is dead, so they're not on the list.
What can we expect from a Close Up session?
Well, I chose Kevin Rowland and Mark E Smith because I didn't want guests who were predictable or spoke in soundbites so it's hard to say exactly what we can expect; but that's the beauty of it. I'll be interviewing them for an hour or so, and there will probably be questions from the audience, so I think the audience will get a much more real sense of their characters and personalities than they would reading about them or watching them on TV. I'm so bored with TV, I just want to get people out of their houses and into some real-life intense, unique event. In my experience - doing similar events with people like Guy Garvey - it can get quite emotional.
Since the Hacienda what have you been doing?
The club closed in 1997, and since then I've written three books, and done loads of DJing gigs in some amazing places - Reykjavik, Peru, Berlin, Paris, and I have some good gigs coming up too, including a trip to NYC. I do a great little club night called 'Sweet Sensation' in various Manchester venues every month or two, just when the time feels right and I can be bothered. Last year I had some input into the events on Albert Square during the Manchester International Festival - showcasing some bands and DJs and I'm hoping to do the same next year. But I need to write another book - that's my new year resolution.
What is your take on Manchester's obsession with past glories?
It's a hard balance, because I wouldn't want anyone trying to deny what the Madchester era achieved, but we should celebrate the past but definitely not live in the past. What I learned back then is to make your own culture and follow your instincts and be open-minded; old people telling young people how things should be is the complete opposite of how to create a thriving culture in this city. If someone had come up to the DJ box at the Hacienda in 1986 droning on about Manchester bands from twenty years before - Freddie & the Dreamers and Herman's Hermits or whoever - I'd have had them thrown out.
What is happening in Manchester, good bands, writers, DJs?
Airship are my favourite young band, and 'Naive Melody' is my favourite club night. But generally the key thing is always to seek out stuff of your own and don't be media led. I've been around long enough to know that the best activity in this city is hard to find, under-hyped, and even a bit weird. Weird is good.
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