Art
I love interviewing artists. They spend their lives thinking about the big stuff – life, what it means, and how you might make something visual out of that – so they’re always fascinating to talk to.
Interviews include Vanessa Beecroft, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Dale Chihuly, Tracy Emin, Denzil Forrester, Nan Goldin, Gary Hume, Anish Kapoor, Yayoi Kusama, Michael Landy, Sarah Lucas, Takeshi Murakami, Yoko Ono, Grayson Perry, Vinca Petersen, Richard Prince, Marc Quinn, Sam Taylor-Wood, Gavin Turk, Mark Wigan, Gillian Wearing.
Architecture & Design
The first architect I ever interviewed was Zaha Hadid. Luckily I didn’t know enough to be intimidated by her! In fact she was funny, fascinating, and full of great advice about the creative process, and we spoke a few more times, over the years. Other interviews include Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhas, Apple’s innovative head of design Jonathan Ive, Daniel Libeskind, Jean Nouvel, John Pawson and Renzo Piano.
Kate Moss 
Arizona Muse
Fashion
I am not a fashion person. As in I’ve never, even by accident, worn a stylish outfit, let alone been on-trend. But working at The Face I learned about it anyway, from the designers (Paul Smith especially was very patient when I first got to the magazine), photographers, stylists and art directors. So I’ve written a lot in this area.
Interviews include Luella Bartley, Naomi Campbell, Lily Cole, Corinne Day, Giles Deacon, Cara Delevingne, John Galliano, Daphne Guinness, David Gandy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Marc Jacobs, Kim Jones, Tomas Maier, Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Issey Miyake, Kate Moss, Tierry Mugler, Arizona Muse, Blake Mycoskie, Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, Carine Roitfeld, Diego Della Valle, Stuart Vevers and Alex Wek.
Film, Theatre & TV
Sandra Bullock 
Joseph Gordon-Levitt 
Kristin Scott Thomas 
Matthew Fox 
Scarlett Johansson 
Sadie Frost
Gemma Arterton, Juliette Binoche, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Bryan Cranston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Adam Driver, Kirsten Dunst, Idris Elba, Martin Freeman, Matthew Fox, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Ethan Hawke, David Heyman, Annemarie Jacir, Scarlett Johansson, Spike Lee, Jay Leno, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Viggo Mortensen, Tyler Perry, Saoirse Ronan, Tim Roth, Kristen Scott Thomas, Ridley Scott, Andy Serkis, Mark Strong, Quentin Tarantino, Alicia Vikander, Joe Wright
I’ve been on the set of many films and TV shows such as The X Files, Sherlock, Will & Grace, The Tonight Show, Luther, The Tunnel, Call The Midwife, Desperate Housewives, and (a career highlight, this one) Teletubbies.
I’ve also reported from behind the scenes stories from Punchdrunk, the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Sadler’s Wells. Rehearsals are usually intimate, protected spaces where performers can experiment and find their way, so I’m grateful to everyone who let me be there to witness it.
Alicia Vikander 
Casey Affleck 
Adam Driver 
Gemma Arterton 
John Slattery 
Audrey Tatou
Food & Drink
When my son was small, I wrote about eating out as a family for Junior magazine. Later I wrote the At The Bar column in The Observer, covering cool bars around the country and their signature cocktails.
I’ve written about the politics of coffee and the difference Fair Trade ingredients can make to farmers in the developing world, and I’ve interviewed chefs from Marco Pierre White to Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, founder of the Nobu empire. I’m currently writing the food column for my local paper, The Deal Despatch.
Lifestyle & Travel
I’ve written travel pieces for The Observer and reviewed boutique hotels for the Mr & Mrs Smith website (always fun at when you go to check out at the end of your stay, and reveal that you were their secret reviewer).
I enjoy writing about social trends from digital nomads to the very brief burkini ban on some French beaches. As for Interiors features: who doesn’t love a chance to look around a lovely house?
Music & Clubs
Yoko Ono 
REM 
Macy Gray 
Courtney Love 
Sharleen Spiteri 
Robbie Williams
I starting writing for NME in my teens, and have written about music ever since.
It’s impossible to list everyone I’ve interviewed here, so this is just a random selection: Blur, Bat For Lashes, Beyonce, Burning Spear, Black Uhuru, Boy George, The Chemical Brothers, Neneh Cherry, Coldplay, Depeche Mode, Faithless, Florence & The Machine, Janet Jackson, Tom Jones, Debbie Harry, Kasabian, Kylie, Courtney Love, Madonna, Mantronix, Katy Perry, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Pet Shop Boys, P!nk, REM, Rudimental, Ed Sheeran, Simple Minds, The Spice Girls, Dusty Springfield, St Vincent, Tracey Thorn, U2, Dionne Warwick, Robbie Williams, Will Young.
I’ve written about the parties that marked Hong Kong’s handover back to China, and clubbing everywhere from Ibiza to Bali, Moscow to Sao Paulo. The best music comes from the energy of a scene, from intense collaboration and competition. From 2 Tone in the Midlands to Lover’s Rock in London, I’ve been lucky to report on some of the best: NY hip-hop, Washington go-go, and the early Chicago house scene.
I’m currently editing a selection of my music writing over four decades, with some of the stories behind those stories, too. It will come out as a book later this year.
Tinie Tempah 
Noel Gallagher 
London clubbing 
Cleveland Watkiss 
Tracey Thorn 
Sheryl Crow
Society
I’ve been fortunate to do a fair of travelling with NGOs, and with Oxfam in particular. I’ve written stories on child slavery, human trafficking, Fair Trade, AIDS and domestic violence.
It’s both humbling and inspiring to meet people who are fighting to make change in their communities, and I’ve learned so much on these trips.
Sport
In 2007 the Telegraph commissioned me to do a series of articles following six UK athletes who were hoping to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. It was an amazing experience, and I’m still grateful to Mo Farah, Beth Tweddle, Richard Kruse, Fiona Pennie and a very young Tom Daley for the insights they gave into their worlds.
I’ve interviewed a few footballers (Rio Ferdinand was the stand-out, for his humour and tolerance of questions he said only his wife usually asked). I also met some of the London 2012 Team as they were putting Stella McCartney’s Team GB kit through its paces.
Everything else
One of the joys of feature writing is that you get to meet interesting people who find themselves in interesting situations, or who are just passionate about what they do. I’ve interviewed authors and comedians, wine and cheesemakers, set and costume designers, Lottery winners, art transporters, social media influencers, choreographers and dancers from the Royal Ballet to Strictly, and all kinds of others. I’m always up for learning about something new!