"Not only did I love it but, as we made the film… We had about a thousand extras. We had to have the use of a thousand people to be various crowds and parents and whatever. And they all — including the crew — all fell in love with that movie. There are many times — not just the last scenes — but there are many times when we did scenes again and again just because they were fun to do. When I say fun, I mean moving — there were more tears wept in the making of the film just because we wanted to, just because it was fun to do. And no film ever bonded [people] like that film. Usually the crew goes one place, and the cast goes another, and the extras go another. And in that film, we all went out together, sang karaoke together. We had a great time."

"I'm getting the hardcore folk records out of the way first! This is another family group of five brothers and a sister from Billingham who were a big part of my childhood. I've seen them live many times. Their harmonies are properly spine-tingling, and it's so intuitive, the way they sing together. They sing lots of the songs of Graeme Miles, who lived and worked in Teeside, a man who worked in different industries to write songs informed by people's experiences. Another song of his called ‘Sea Coal', about people collecting coal washed up on the shore and then selling it cheaply, is one we do. God, they're such evocative songs. I've also sung some of his songs recently with Paul Smith from Maximo Park, who's from Billingham too – we've basically made an album together. That's to come! He's a real folk-lover. They're everywhere, you know.
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