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Q: Can you give us a brief overview of the Salford Music Map?

A: it’s gonna be a physical, hold in your hand map… so you can wander around Salford… and see where things are where people’s houses were- where people were born or grew up- where bands rehearsed- where things that happened- not only to people from Salford… but sometimes stuff happens in Salford that maybe Salford doesn’t know about. So stuff that people who have come into the area have done as well. So Salford people, Salford places- but also stuff that happened in Salford that has had a big effect around the country, round Greater Manchester- and in some cases; around the world.

Q: And where did the idea come from? How did it originate?

A: I was sat in Broughton library- about to do a book reading… and I was just killing time waiting for it to start and I was just saying to a woman from the council; “Oh I’ve found all these places out about Salford” (because the book’s about Bernard Sumner from New Order) “and I’ve found out all this information about Salford and it just keeps coming up all the time- that the Manchester stuff is actually the Salford stuff- Tony Wilson, Mr Manchester is from Salford, such and such a Madchester band are from Salford… it would be nice to have a map so you could see where everything is- so that you can prove it once and for all.” And she said “yeah that’s a good idea, I’ll mention that” and then a month or two later they came back and said “we’d like to talk to you about your Salford Music Map idea”

17,500 meetings later- it’s nearly ready- so yeah- it was just a chance remark in Broughton library and that’s where it’s come from- and now it’s nearly ready and it’s gonna be in every public building, every venue, you name it, it’ll have a Salford Music Map in it. Fantastic.

Q: Can you give us a taster of who, what or where will be in it?

A: The main thing is that it’s going to be a mix- it could be quite tempting… to have a lot of stuff from my generation, which would be punk, post-punk, Factory records, Hacienda type of stuff- that’s the kind of stuff that I would automatically go for but that’s quite one dimensional… so what it’s got is a really good mix of stuff from right back to the start of the 20^th century… in terms of people being born. It’s got pop acts on there, and acts from the 50s and 60s right through to the present day- there’s dance stuff on there and there’s stuff on there that didn’t immediately occur to me…

So it’s right across the board- something for all tastes- including the bizarre.

Q: Is there anything surprising in there that people may not instantly associate with Salford?

A: Hopefully an awful lot of it should be a surprise because it’s not just the same old stories- I’ve had my nose down in the local history library being able to find where streets are that have long long disappeared- so that we can say “if you stand at this point now- you are stood in this musicians front room- so you’ll know you’re standing in the right place.”

And also there’s ones that might not be my type of music, Russell Watson being a good example, and there’s some artists that people might be quite surprised to see on there. If I had to choose one it would have to be The Dooleys, because that’s such a fantastic story and one that’s been forgotten about… they had a string of hits in the 70s and 80s… and yet their story’s been forgotten about and yet their story started in a little Bed & Breakfast just off Agecroft Road. It’s a fantastic story- even if you’re not into the music.

Q: With the Map being council funded- did you have to sanitise any of the content?

A: that’s a really good question- and to be honest with you- that’s what I was expecting. I was expecting to do all these stories that go with the sites… and as I was writing some of them I thought “oh that won’t get in or that probably won’t get through” or “they’ll probably object to that one even being on the map” but as far as I know they’ve looked at it and said “Great” which I was really pleased about because you can’t do rock n roll without breaking a few eggs. That comes with the territory and to try and sanitise that would look odd.

I’ve been lucky enough to made a few TV shows and write a few books and this is on the shelf next to those- and I’m as proud of this as I am of any book I’ve written or any programme I’ve made- and if it’s anything less than that then it’s not worth doing quite frankly.

Q: With the advent of MySpace and Facebook as a promotional tool for bands, and the proliferation of free music downloads, do you think the Map is the beginning of the end of genuine paper memorabilia?

A: I hope not. But the point of it being a map is that if it was online then people would look at it at home- they would not leave their house. And the whole point of the map is that you find the places and you look at them and take some photographs. You look at the photo of Paul Ryder from The Mondays outside his house and you look up- and there’s his house…

People like to have things in their hands- and I’ve seen the early designs of it and hopefully it’ll be good enough that you’ll want a couple of copies so that you can use one and also keep one to put up on your wall at home.

Q: The writing of cultural history is quite a subjective thing- do you think that being a non-Salfordian helped or hindered you?

A: I think it helps sometimes to take a step back and I think that sometimes the worst person to write a book is the person who loves that thing more than anybody. My favourite band in the world is XTC but I’d be the worst person in the world to write a book about them because I can’t be objective. Whereas in terms of Salford music I’m completely objective. I work in Salford- at the university and I use the city and I’m in the city an awful lot more than some people who talk about the city are- so I’ve paid my dues in that respect. It’s good to have a slightly different perspective on it because there will be stuff that I’ve put in there that perhaps other people wouldn’t have done- and vice versa. And if anyone doesn’t like it- well hey- go and make your own map.

Q: So can you tell us when the map will be available?

A: Well I’ve done my bit- the printing and design is being done through July and august and it should be all boxed up- ready to rock by the end of August. It should be then launched right at the beginning of September and should be available straight after that. After that- who knows? It could be a book or perhaps we could do a tour on a charabanc every other Saturday.

Q: If there was anyone you would have liked to have interviewed for the map, dead or alive, but couldn’t pin down; who would it have been?

A: Although I’d interviewed him many times before- an absolute key figure would’ve been Tony Wilson… he figures very large in this story- and by coincidence he’s from Salford- but even if he wasn’t- he would’ve figured large in this story. I never really got a chance to talk to him about the map when he was with us but I managed to talk to his partner, Yvette Livesey about it and she was telling me about his upbringing because Tony was a swine for telling you his version of events that may not necessarily be the true version of events. So posthumously I suppose, anyone who thought of Tony Wilson as Mr. Manchester will be reminded that actually he was Mr. Salford.