My reverence for this man is beyond me. I'll try and be brief in my intro with this rare correspondence that I've been blessed with. It's fucking JET BLACK Okay?

If you have to ask? You'll never know. The Stranglers. One billion units? Makes sense to me. The new album ''Giants'' is incredible. No..Astonishing. Go buy it. Really. Play it at anyone and they will go ''Wow, this exists?'' It's a veritable classic.

All fanaticism aside I wanted to share with you the person who's driven the beat and attitude behind one of the best groups ever. Stop and think what music would be without Jet?

Jet is no ordinary drummer. Put on ''Genetix'' and it's all about change. ''Duchess'' is a trademark. We are talking way before punk. Way before punk somehow got class. The Stranglers continue to define what rebelling is. We had a wee talk about things. Here's Jet.

Jet, Can you tell us some of your earliest memories growing up that involved music? What got you playing and what was it you were playing at first?

Over the years, this has been one of the most frequently asked questions. Consequently, it was to become a large part of the opening pages of my personal biography when I came to compile one for the band’s website. It might therefore be helpful to readers, to refer them to it at the following address:
http://www.thestranglers.net/wp-content/uploads/Stranglers_Biography.pdf

I try and imagine who your major “rock” influences were, which is hard to pinpoint with your fairly unorthodox style, name some please?

As I have so often said, I was born and brought-up before “rock” had been invented, so my early influences weren’t in fact “rock” at all. Influences, such as they were, would be mostly of a jazz nature of one sort or another, so that is the obvious influence but there are of course many strands to the genre.

Initially, it was all interesting to me and therefore influential but in truth I became disinclined to much of it when it descended into an endless inventory of notes devoid of obvious euphony. It all became too complicated. When the melody becomes lost, so too does my interest.

As opposed to the UK, North America is bonkers over the “famous” but you could be sitting in a pub in London and Clapton would walk in. Drop any names of some of the people you've rubbed shoulders with, friends? Did you ever meet “Moonie”? Who's your top shelf drummers?

I don’t do name dropping and no I didn’t meet Moonie if you mean Keith Moon. I don’t consciously listen to drummers at all either, it’s the song I want to hear. But when I was a kid I was amazed at the abilities of Buddy Rich and acknowledge his monumental contribution to the development of drumming. For all his phenomenal wizardry though, it’s not something I wanted to emulate. I see my job as one of complimenting the music, not dominating it.

In the early years at the off license with all the ice cream trucks and that strange mix of gents, did you feel it would take off? What were some of the covers you were doing?

I wasn’t thinking, “will this take off?”, I was thinking, “how can I make this take off?”. I can’t remember every song played but in the beginning it was the very same stuff everyone else was playing, to put it in general terms.

When did you (obviously) know that the group was gonna be big?

Well it wasn’t until we were starting to appear regularly in London that it was becoming obvious that people liked what we were doing. It now seems odd, but prior to that, audiences just hated us.

As a musician/drummer, I can easily pick out some of my favorite material I've recorded~the stuff that stands out. What's your Stranglers' “A-list”?

You really have got me all wrong, I never think about stuff like that!

Let's talk technology. You were at the forefront of all that is electronic, Sequencers, Midi, emulators, clicks etc. What was it like to be writing with all these new “toys”?

The only answer I can think of is ‘exciting’. Our early days were a riot of technological discovery and we found it very interesting. What we didn’t then realize was that I wasn’t about to stop!

Feline is a great (under rated) album. How much of that was natural drums?

: I can’t say now if there was any acoustic drums on that album at all but I have always since then thought that it was all electronic. It was a long time ago!

What's your live set up these days? Are you using click always, and what do you like in your monitors? Any “pre gig” superstitious rituals?

Live, I just use a conventional acoustic kit with an occasional song which might feature a drum machine track as well. This is mostly to capture sounds not playable in a ‘live’ situation. This however is rarely more then a track or two in an entire show. It’s largely all live. Monitors, a bit of everything. But the main requirement has always been a dedicated bass monitor. It’s a feature of our band that there is a tight bass/drums marriage. No, no superstitions.

You have a patent on something, tell us more?

Yes, I have a patent on a ‘remote’ bass drum pedal with revolutionary features but I can’t find anyone who can make it for me at an affordable investment.

The new album “Giants” is possibly the best *sounding* record I've heard in years. It's right up there with what I think is the greatest record you've made, “The Raven” Can you let us in on how long it took to make and the production of that? There's tons of Jazzy stuff on it, that must have taken you back?

There is nothing particularly unusual about the prod on ‘Giants’. It was done pretty much like everyone else does it these days. Lot’s of software, small rooms etc. The days of massive - and expensive - studios seem now to be a thing of the past. We were at it for around 12/18 months I guess but not all at once. It was all rather piecemeal. A bit here and a bit there. I guess any jazziness is just the way I do it.

What with all the Knighthood petition stuff? (I signed it 3 times) That must have given you a chuckle ? I think it's a totally reasonable idea. I mean have you counted how many gigs you've played?

Chuckle yes, but frankly it was quite ridiculous. Sir Jet Black? I don’t think so! Gigs? Thousands, but I don’t know how many.

You recently had to sit out some tour dates, how's the future looking as far as touring and especially North America? Even for a few shows? (Vancouver!, L.A.!)

Yes I have had a few health problems in recent years and that’s been the bane of my life. However, I’m over the most recent episode and expect to be doing all the tours for the foreseeable, but I don’t have the crystal ball to help me!

Do you, Dave, JJ, and Baz stay close? Live close? What's home life like? Any hobbies? Pets etc? (I think Dave's got the rat thing cornered)

No, we all live in different parts of the UK. This is a very small country but there’s at least a hundred miles between most of us. Home life such as it is, is pretty quiet by choice. One needs to get away from the crowds now and then to retain some sanity. I think Dave might have given up the rat thing, you need to ask him.

What's on your play list in the car/home? If I were to push 'random' what would I hear?

I never make use of a play list, at home or in the car. I’ll have the radio on and very often it is tuned to ‘talk’ rather than ‘music’, so there’s no great story there.

The drummer in my Stranglers tribute Simon (Who does a bang up job) , met up with you a few years backstage in Portugal, said you were a great chap. What do you think about all the tributes popping up?

I suppose a tribute is a kinda honor, so I/we are so honored!

Tell us how you met Ava?

At a gig, how boring is that?

What's your favorite place to visit/play. Least favorite? (Not to name names, but I can't imagine Nice would be on the nice list)

Wherever the best food and drink is to be found. Once you’re on that stage, it’s all the same.

Any advice for would be drummers, or anything you'd like to add?

It ain’t easy, be prepared for it!

Punk Globe would like to thank Jet Black along with Doug Donut for the fun informative interview... Please buy the new Stranglers release "Giants" ......