45 minutes with...Roland Gift

Roland Gift came to prominence in 1985 when, as the lead singer in Fine Young Cannibals, he made the UK Top 10 with their first single, Johnny Come Home. That same year they also reached the Top 10 with their self-titled debut album, although it was their 1989 followup, The Raw & The Cooked, that hit No 1 in the UK and US and yielded US No 1 singles She Drives Me Crazy and Good Thing. When they split in 1996, Gift, who'd previously starred in films including 1987's Sammy And Rosie Get Laid and 1989's Scandal, returned to the screen, starring in 1997 TV miniseries, Painted Lady, alongside Helen Mirren. In 2002 he made his eponymously titled solo album, then, in 2013, went on tour with Jools Holland's band. He is currently celebrating the 40th anniversary of Fine Young Cannibals with FYC40, a career-spanning CD/LP package and an accompanying Roland Gift Presents Fine Young Cannibals tour.

- Interview: Lois Wilson

It's been 40 years since Fine Young Cannibals issued that first single and album. Do you like looking back when the opportunity arises?

Sometimes I get accused of looking back too much. I can hang out in the past, in regretful mode. But I don't like trading on the past. It's hard not to be remembered for the Fine Young Cannibals, but I don't want to be defined by it. I became very aware of nostalgia when I first moved to Hull from Birmingham, because I missed Birmingham.

What do you remember of those early years in Spark Hill, Birmingham? Was there music?

There were all different types of records at home, reggae records, and then you'd flick through and there'd be Stravinsky's The Rite Of Spring and My Fair Lady and Ian Campbell Folk Group records. His parents lived down the road and it was like, if you knew somebody who made records, then making records yourself didn't seem like an out-of-this-world possibility. But then my parents split up when I was about five, because my father went to prison and my mum and I moved to Hull when I was 11.

Was punk an outlet for you?

I wasn't into Wishbone Ash or Status Quo like a lot of the kids were at my school, so punk was good, and then because punk aligned itself with reggae that made punk seem even more accessible to me. It was something that I felt I could identify with. It was about being creative and expressing yourself and doing it yourself. I was just at the right age, at the right time. I liked The Clash. I liked the music. But also, I liked that they had a picture of the Notting Hill Carnival on the back of their first album because I had been to Notting Hill Carnival, and they also covered Police And Thieves. I felt like I could be involved with something like that.

So in 1978 you join Akrylykz, a ska band akin to 2 Tone, not as a singer, but a tenor saxophonist.