(From Uncut, UK entertainment magazine, April 2006.)

Consuming Passions

Jaz Coleman

Killing Joker

Desert Island Disc: Beethoven's Ninth. When he conducted the ninth symphony, he was all over the place because he was stone deaf. And the crowd knew he was stone deaf, so he turned around after the performance and he thought they didn't like it. Then, one by one, they stood up and started clapping. It breaks my heart.  I'm not deaf . . . yet!

Bedtime Reading: I get a lot of shit about this, let me tell you. In my toilet, there's the complete works of Tintin and Asterix (below). Sometimes I just go to the loo, not to relieve myself, but just to read Tintin or Asterix, which I've read since I was five years old. It keeps me in this permanent state of childhood.

Essential Viewing: The Last Wave by Peter Weir. Maybe it's the time that I saw it, and what I was going through. You know when you see a movie, and what is happening in your life coincides with what is happening on the screen.

Guilty Pleasure: High-quality rum and cigars. One of my best friends is my doctor, and I know that neither are good for me, but I love it.

Pet Hate: They tell us the greatest thing happening in British music is the Arctic Monkeys. What a load of bollocks! They don't even sound like a good support band. And I hate DJs. When you turn the electricity off, you know who's who. DJs -- they can't play a fucking thing; they're useless without electricity.

Interview: Sian Wynne