"I always find that the best things come from when I've had a break..."

Have you found it easy to stay inspired?

It kind of comes and goes you know? Sometimes you'll literally sit there for a week and you'll be kind of banging your head on a desk because nothing's happening.

How do you deal with that?

There's nothing you can do, you have to just stop and do something else.

Are you good at that?

No [laughs]. I sit there [mimes self-flagellation] doing that thing where you're like 'come on, make something'....you can't force it...but you still sit there for days trying, even though you need to get out the house, go do something. I always find that the best things come from when I've had a break- if I've been away on tour for a couple of weeks, you switch on the machines and the first thing you do is brilliant. So I think that's probably the best way to do it- stop for a couple of weeks, come back and see what happens.

Is there anywhere in London that's been particularly inspiring for you?

Erm....just being here has been quite exciting....the last album was [made] in Brighton, this one was all in London. Just the change of scenery, being in amongst it...

Has being in London shaped your sound?

I think it's the absence of Brighton more than the presence of London. There's some friends of mine who live in Brighton and I was listening to some of their music, and I never realised it before but there is a sound in Brighton, Brighton has a 'sound', which I didn't realise until I moved away and looked back at it. It's a bit more fun, I reckon. You know that sort of summery, barbeque hip-hop vibe? [laughs]. With lots of big parping horns and scratchy beats, that sort of thing...yeah that's definitely the Brighton sound, I think. It's kind of that beach lifestyle vibe.

You mentioned touring- is it something you enjoy?

Yeah, definitely. It's kind of in two parts 'cos I DJ as well, which is different. Me and a bag of records or a laptop going up to Stansted and then hanging out with some random people in Estonia for the weekend...which sometimes is amazing fun. You do these shows, and no-one you know is there, no-one is there to see it. And you come back and tell people 'I did this gig, it was wicked', and they're just like [pulls indifferent face] 'Oh that's good...whatever' [laughs]. And then sometimes you can be sat in a Travelodge at the side of a motorway in Poland on a Sunday afternoon thinking 'Is this the way I want to be spending my life?'. So it's ups and downs really. Touring with the band is much harder work, 'cos you've got soundchecks and all the people and organising but there's a gang. You're only onstage for 2 hours of the day but the rest of the time you've got to be together with all these people, so the most important thing is to make sure you've got good people and that touring is fun and not painful. It's really good fun, especially when you do tours on a bus, which we'll start doing soon- you're living in this bubble, it's not even a real world.

How do you make the transition from the studio to a live band? Do you transcribe the music?

I don't transcribe it but I kind of break stuff down...this stuff [pointing at the surrounding equipment] is all my gear so it's kind of what my own studio looks like, but instead of 7 people doing it it's just me. So it's just undoing that process, separating out the parts, showing people what the guitar line is doing, or what those keys are doing and just listening back to the tunes. They're [the musicians] all such a good standard, they can just listening it to once, and then add their own...so once we get the basics down and we all get tight and comfortable with what we're doing, then it's like 'Do your thing, put your own mark on this', 'cos if you trust people's judgement and taste then their embellishments will fit.

What do you play?

I'm playing bass mainly but I'm also doing Ableton and a little bit of synth, but mostly bass. I've got a man on Ableton over here...so we share that. I've got an upright and electric [bass] and an Alesis. Ableton is kind of a new thing for this tour. Before we had a couple of MPCs and we were just firing off samples over the top but there's going to be more of a sequenced feel to this show, it's going to have 3 movements. There's more electronics on this record. It's going to be a continual show that's going to build and drop...light and shade and all that stuff.

Has your equipment changed over the years?

Yeah it does, definitely. I need to keep things interesting for myself. You can rinse a piece of equipment to the point where it's not exciting anymore. There's nothing more inspiring than a new piece of kit.

What sort of kit have you been using for this album then?

Little synths, like that Alesis, that MicroKorg, lots of nylon guitar...I hired a vibraphone for a few days, that was fun...and a harp. I think hiring stuff is the future- basically the first thing you do with something is going to be the best thing you do with it. Because it's all new and all the sounds are really exciting. Once you've had a synth for 3 years and you know exactly what it does....I keep getting stuff, rinsing it and selling it, keep the kitlist evolving.

Are you using Logic to record?

Yeah, it's the end of the chain. I'm not a massive software head. My version is 6, I think they're on version 10 now [I think you'll find it's version 9- nerdy Ed]. But I don't need it to do anything else- I've got a setup with nice compressors and it does what I need it to. I make my drums on an Emu SP12 too- dump it all onto Logic.

Do you get nervous before a record comes out?

Yeah [smiles sheepishly].

Are you nervous about this one?

Yeah, very. I've got no idea what people will make of this one. Hopefully they'll go with it- it's got quite a broad palette of sounds on there, so hopefully there'll be something for everyone.

'Black Sands' by Bonobo is out now on Ninja Tune.