This final version of ‘Gone Before Morning’ seems to have been a long time in the making, how did you get there?
Yes, it has been a long, long process.

Initially I got the 10 songs together and recorded them for a project funded by speaker giants Bowers and Wilkins. They joined forces with Peter Gabriel and his Real World Studios to hand pick 12 different genre-less(if there is such a word) artists to record and mix an original album in a mind bending week which was then offered to the Bowers and Wilkins online music club. The purpose of which is to champion a new way of downloading music so it sounds as it is intended not crunched and squashed into an mp3. It was a massive honour to be part of this project and extraordinary to record in that amazing studio...

The album came out and was very popular with the online club members. Our album ‘In Case of Emergency’ had recently been released to universally lovely press and the whirl wind of that release was just subsiding. In my personal life my father had died tragically and I was completely spun out from that. The combination of the best thing that had happened in my life and the worst meant that I couldn't see the possibilities of this album right in front of me for a good long while. Reveal records who had released ‘In case Of Emergency’ quietly folded and Madam was label less, all a bit lonely making and depressing.

Then I heard about Pledge Music, a site that helps you raise money for music projects. They encourage artists to come up with a series of incentives so fans can pledge money for them. For example, hand written lyrics, name check on the album, visit to the studio where the album is being made, lots of different things. Each incentive has a price and the artist works towards a realistically set financial target. I did this and raised enough money to go into a studio I had used before for ‘In Case of Emergency’ and added more instrumentation, backing vocals and in a couple of instances completely remixed some tracks. This whole process took ages and an enormous amount of work. Last minute delaying dramas also with the mastering guy sending the wrong tracks to the manufacturer, the whole first run of the cd had to be re done and paid for again. A massive sold out launch show at Kings Place booked, no cds! Hand printed/painted cds the night before the show (limited to 50 as that's all we could make in the 24 hours). I set up my own label, Shilling Boy Records, did a deal with Cargo distribution, got a team together to support the album and ‘Gone Before Morning’ is finally in the world.

Did you have a particular vision for this record?
The sound of the record in some ways was dictated by the speed of the recording process. We rehearsed very intensely for about 4 weeks before we went into the studio and recorded much of the album as live as possible, very different to how I had pieced together ‘In Case Of Emergency’ (lots of different studios over a long period of time). I wanted the music to reflect the emergence of a dedicated band of musicians who worked together to make our sound and I was interested in making a richer sounding record. The imagery in my head was haunted, confessional and secretive, disguising huge emotional confusion and conflict so the snaky violent guitars, dark swoony cello, very present drums and intimate vocals were a way of illustrating that.

It is fascinating to me how a sort of theme becomes apparent after an album is finished. I guess there's a subconscious decision making process that sort of links things together. ‘Gone Before Morning’ is a lot more based in the world. Imagery of the sea, water, the ground, swamps, snakes, cities etc. ‘In Case of Emergency’ seemed more transcendental, more dreamlike, image wise like a Chagall painting. ‘Gone Before Morning’ is more like a David Lynch movie, if that doesn't sound too pretentious.

Do you feel you accomplished what you set out to do?
Yes, I hope so. The songs develop as we play them live so in some ways it would be great to capture them now too.

Did anything influence the writing of ‘Gone Before Morning’?
I think the main starting point for any song for me is a degree of disquiet or being unnerved. Maybe something happens, finishes, works out or comes to light that I hadn't anticipated and makes me want to explore it in a song. The songs were mostly written before my father died but recorded afterwards so they are all sung with the fall out of the unbelievably mighty of loss right in the front of my mind. It was a very extreme time, in some ways everything is now. Not in a dramatic way. Just in a leveled comprehension that you might as well make everything count.

Is this spooky, dark, gothic style something you’ve always been attracted to?
I like that description. Yes, not exclusively though. I don't know if there’s a link between everything I listen to, watch and create but definitely I am attracted to the bravery of extremes. I think recognition in music of a massive emotion however it is expressed is what I am drawn to, from the hugeness of a Scott Walker song or a Ike and Tina Turner belting track to the unfolding of a brilliant Bobby Gentry story song.

How do you think ‘Gone Before Morning’ differs from ‘In Case Of Emergency’?
It’s different in its approach, even though I produced both albums ‘In Case of Emergency’ was a very solitary experience ‘Gone Before Morning’ was much less lonely. I over saw everything and ultimately made the final choices but the whole band brought the possibility of its sound together. I find it a very magical process. A rehearsal where I spoke about what I wanted for a song in images and ambitions for the song, they roll out choices and I still find it completely joyous that clumsy explanations about subtle things from me can be so beautifully exploded by a band.

What are your earliest memories of music and how do you think that has formed you into an artist?
Lullabies, then music my parents played, lots of jazz, New Orleans trad jazz mostly. Bessie Smith, Scott Joplin and some classical music. I hated it for a long time, the apparent perkiness of it all! But I think the rhythms I like playing with have that basis in the music also the way the instruments and vocals (if there were any) acknowledge each other in a sort of call and response way. I hear that anyway and play with that when I arrange Madam songs.

Does song writing come naturally to you?
I don’t know. I love hearing about how other people write. I guess I do it for pleasure so it must do I suppose. You wouldn't do something difficult on purpose would you? I like the initial spurt of inspiration and then the wrangling it into something proper. It takes me a long time to get a song to when I play it to anyone. I read about people making a song in 10 minutes and I am agog!

What was the first song you wrote?
‘Horses’ on ‘In Case of Emergency’. I wrote it on a friend’s bass guitar. ‘Someone in Love’ from ‘Gone Before Morning’ was the 2nd song I wrote.

You have done a lot of different things in the past but writing a score to a film! How did that come about? Was it a tough project?
It was very unexpected. I'd met the director once before to talk about a film he was making and instead of discussing how I could be part of that project we talked about music and song writing. He came to see me play a few times and completely unexpectedly asked me to write the score. He definitely wanted to use ‘Calling for Love’ as a big track in the film but apparently the more he and his producer thought about the film the more they decided that my sort of writing, voice and sensibility of music making was a good counterpoint to the very aggressive masculine world the film is set in. Its about a gang murder in Silvertown London. A sort of thriller. The film explores the repercussions of the murder as well as the discovery of the culprit and my music highlights the first element of it, I think. There is confusion, sorrow, mystery and slightly supernatural element to the film. I wrote ‘You Lead I Follow’ for it which is the first track on ‘Gone Before Morning’.

I loved writing for the film, I would listen to the dialogue in a scene that needed music over and over again till it almost became like a chant or a poem and distilled the essence of what was being said. That was the starting point for the music.

The director also had very specific tempos for some sections of the film, very diverse example tracks that I worked with. I loved the discipline of writing to order and that I would present him with options and we would serve the film to the best of our ability, sometimes brutally sacrificing a track if it didn't work. Very liberating! Atmospheres being created just with a single drum or a little keyboard line, I really loved that sort of collaboration. The film is called ‘Hush Your Mouth’.

You have a bunch of shows coming up, you must be very excited?
I used to be terrified of playing live. Proper, proper scared. But like you say, yes excited! We played the Queen Elizabeth Hall a while ago in front of 900 people and oddly that was the first time I wasn't numb with nerves. It was just so huge for us I was either going to be useless and collapse or just channel some sort of extreme excitement and joy to replace the bastard fear. It’s sort of a choice and it is brilliant being on stage with everyone.

I love the possibility of making a massive sound with a group of musicians who understand the power of silence. Sometimes being on stage with everyone feels like I'm holding the leash of a very violent and mighty beast. It’s incredibly exciting to have that sense of unity and danger.

What are you listening to at the moment?
Fever Ray, Ana Brun, Joan Jett, Tom Waits’ recordings of Birdsong and Velvet Underground.

What’s next for Madam?
Singles for ‘Gone Before Morning’. ‘Someone in Love’ is the first out in early September with a promo directed by Chloe Thomas. We have a new agent so we will be playing in Europe. I think we have a new album three quarters written which I will either raise money to record or find Madam a new label, either way we fight on.

www.myspace.com/madammusic

www.madam.org.uk