Foxx and the Maths make it all add up

John Foxx’s CV is the perfect definition of eclectic. The original lead singer of Ultravox left the band in 1979 to pursue a solo career, since then he has pursued his love of photography, had a go at filmmaking, had a spell as a lecturer and designed book covers for Salman Rushdie and Jeanette Winterson.

Disillusioned with music, he largely withdrew from the industry which had first made his name in the late 1980s, but he never stopped experimenting and he’s back with the intriguing sounding outfit John Foxx and the Maths.

“Everything just seemed so safe, there didn’t seem to be room for anyone who wasn’t a guitar band,” says Foxx, who taught for a time at Leeds Met. “Eventually there is always a reaction against conformity. In the 1990s it came from the underground House and Acid scene and it will happen again.”

One of the pioneers of electro, his latest project has been two years in the making and sees him collaborate with the music producer Ben Edwards.

“People are desperate to categorise music as being from a particular genre and I suspect my work poses them a few problems.

“Everything I do, whether it be art or music all feeds into each other and I don’t spend too much time worrying what anyone else thinks.”

As with much of Foxx’s output, expect the unexpected.

John Foxx and the Maths play the Holmfirth Picturedrome tonight. 01484 689759.