I know this is now January, but let me tell you about touring at Christmas - its great. Even though we only do weekends, I think that England's towns and cities look their best in the weeks before 25 December. Never any time for shopping though - I was hoping to take a leisurely stroll around the Lanes in Brighton - but we had to drive from Leeds that morning, so we had a snowball's chance in hell of taking in the wonderful Brighton scenery. Never mind, next year maybe.

When you first started out in the music scene, did you ever foresee your epic longevity-a career which began in the seventies and is still maintained today. What do you attribute to this success?

I never thought we'd even make a record when we first started - bands in Derry didn't make records. So everythings been a bonus ever since. Of course, we haven't had thirty three years of constant success. I would argue that we've had only minor success, otherwise I wouldnt have a day job today. What we have going for us is a supply of good songs, which still sound great even though I say so myself. That and the fact that none of us have ended up fat and baldy. Unless you're Buster Bloodvessel its never a good look. Some of us have gone baldy - no names - and some of us have got fat (tish!) - that'll be me, then, but we have by and large survived , relatively unravaged by the rock and roll lifestyle. I know, that sounds vain, but I don't care.

It has been noted that John Peel considered 'Teenage Kicks' to be his all time favourite song-that’s a pretty major accolade to receive. How does that feel as a collective?

I reckon that if the worlds best DJ says that your single is his favourite record, well, you're never going to get a better compliment. Its given us an iconic song, as a result - of course, if John was here , he would downplay his role in the Teenage Kicks story. He was very self deprecating, but incredibly serious about his role. He was blessed with the musical taste of a seventeen year old, no matter what age he was.

The Undertones sound has been described as both 'pop' and 'punk' which do you feel is most fitting and why?
I always feel very comfortable with both words, to be honest. As long as you don't combine them........ Punk because we were part of that movement that said 'anyone can do this' - its probably common now, but in 1976, there was still a notion that you had to be accomplished as a musician to be allowed on stage. Punk meant you only needed the willingness to learn, the attitude that the best rock and roll was the simplest , and a belief that , basically, Pink Floyd and ELP were shite. Having said all that, I always took 'pop' as a compliment, in that it meant the songs were easily appreciated on the first hearing. Nothing in our records were about trying to be clever - I think if you cant get a record on the first or second hearing, its the record's fault, not yours. The Ramones were as much about making pop records than punk records. If both words work with the brothers Ramone, it works with the Undertones.

Your lyrics have swayed between the relatively light hearted 'Here comes the summer' to having a deeper,more political political edge 'Crisis of mine' how do you feel this adds to the band overall?

Remember that the words of our songs were always the personal property of the person who wrote them - John O Neill wrote the vast majority , and for the first year of the band he was the only one writing - so by the time Damian, I and Billy started writing , John was much more developed - Having said that , I think that some of the later songs were a bit too opaque lyrically - and sometimes, in my opinion, they didnt work as well as the simpler songs. But then I meet people who say that they prefer the later records, so who am I to argue ?

If you had to pick one song - tricky I know-that as a collective was the most influential to you all as a group what would it be and why?

Yes it is tricky - but I will suggest that Blitzkrieg Bop was a big revelation for me, and I think for the rest of teh band. we heard it in the summer of 1976 and it showed us that it was possible to play songs fast, with a fuzzy guitar, and a simple tune, and it still sounded wonderful. And if the Ramones could do it in New York, then we could do it in Derry. Up until then there was a feeling that you had to be musically proficient to be good - after we heard the Ramones, we knew you that the rules had changed.

Finally, as arguably your most beloved record-'Teenage Kicks': one of a kind or over rated?

Good question. I am tempted to say over rated, but then its still a bit of a cult record. It never even got into the top thirty, so we're not talking about another Bohemian Rhapsody. No, its a great record, and I am very proud to be part of it. So, one of a kind.