I have always been a writer first and foremost but have worked for many years with graphic designers, fine artists, illustrators, photographers and composers. I quickly realised that writing made more sense to as a communication practice than a purely literary one so began performing with industrial rock groups and sound artists, as well as giving public lectures and making radio programmes.
I enjoy the invisibility of radio – voices and words coming out of thin air. I have broadcast my own series on Resonance 104.4 FM, the UK’s first 24-hour arts radio station, and regularly write and present features for the BBC. Recent programmes include one on Martian Utopias for Radio 4 and on skulls, electronic music, Friedrich Nietzsche and Marshall McLuhan for Radio 3. I used to work as a publisher’s editor, so have practical knowledge of how writing and graphic communication design intersect. During this period, I edited books by John Cage, Georges Bataille, Jean Cocteau, Hubert Selby Jr., Kenzaburo Oe, Erik Satie and Karlheinz Stockhausen. My books include Destroy All Monsters, Welcome to Mars, The Bright Labyrinth, The Space Oracle, Inferno and Purgatory. I also make records as The Howling. My latest release is Incredible Night Creatures of the Midway, which was used to soundtrack the Loewe SS 2024 catwalk show during Paris Fashion Week. So far as I’m concerned, to embody your idea is to perform it, and to perform your idea is to own it. Anything less than this would be unthinkable.