Duke Special

May 2010

My weekend


If I’m not working at the weekend I’ll try and find time to go swimming with my kids. I’ve three, aged seven, ten and 13. Then we’d go to a park or something in the afternoon.
In the evening there’s nothing better than watching a film or going out with friends or going to see some live music. Sometimes I’ll just wander in to a venue and see what’s on.
Sunday we’ll see the family and try and eat something nice. I’m the master at making something from whatever’s in the fridge. Which is very hit and miss but I’ll have a go.
I did cookery at school until I was 16 and really enjoyed it. It’s among my list of things I’d like to do when I have a moment.
I hate soaps and reality TV. I like programmes which are artistically presented and there’s been some thought given to the aesthetic of it. I love The Wire and Dexter. But I generally prefer watching films rather than television. It’s more poetic.
I recently joined Love Film so I’ve ordered loads of Buster Keaton movies that I haven’t really explored before and films that make you think, are inspiring or just downright weird.
I love what the Coen Brothers do and Jim Jarmusch. Actors I enjoy are William H Macy and Philip Seymour Hoffman. I recently got a box set of Bogart films.
I do see popcorn movies because of the kids. Well, I wake up half-way through them anyway. I find being in a comfortable chair and a dark room condusive to catching up on some sleep.
There have been some stand-out kids films, like Beauty & The Beast, Toy Story and How To Train A Dragon, which I went to see recently and enjoyed.
I recently finished a biography of Kurt Weill because I was due to visit the Kurt Weill Foundation. It was an incredible read that filled in a lot of the gaps in my knowledge of him.
I don’t follow any bands in a fanatical way. I just know what I like when I hear it. I keep my antenna open. Yesterday I was listening to Beach Boys and Ryan Adams.
I do love Magnetic Fields. I think Stephin Merritt is an amazing songwriter. The balance between sweet and sour is perfect for me. The way he writes a love song but just in the closing line says ‘maybe I’d like to pitch you off a cliff’. He’s really great at off-setting what could be quite saccarine or sentimental with something very dark.
I play a little bit of five-a-sde football and I love walking but I find exercise a little boring. I have to be distracted. If I go for a walk I have to have a destination in mind or there has to be something beautiful around you.
I find gyms so boring. The idea of a treadmill is heart-breaking.

Duke Special appears at the Rescue Rooms, Nottingham on Saturday May 8. The show is sold out. For returns call 0871 310 0000. His triple album The Stage, A Book & The Silver Screen is out now.