'I'm attracted to the alternative, the alienated, anti-church, anti-capitalist, anti-mainstream.' Olivier Award winner Martyn Jacques on what stokes his inferno. He's the founding member and front man of the Grammy nominated punk-cabaret band The Tiger Lillies. This summer he premieres his first ever solo show at Soho Theatre (25 July-11 Aug). He's composed a new score that he'll perform live to the iconic silent film The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. The production is a tribute to the acclaimed silent movie organist (and his infamous teacher) Florence De Jong - who he describes as a 'gothic Liberace of her age'. In his Run Riot Interview he tells us about her, and how the film maker Fassbinder has inspired him. He also shares with us the time he performed to protesters opposite the Greek parliament, sleepwalking in a field of nervous sheep, how he's 'alienated' and - 'always had a problem with authority!'

RR: What is it about the era before 'talkies' that captivates your imagination?
MJ: I don't really like 'talkies'. Silent films seem far more magical. I also love the feeling that you're watching ghosts. The stars of that era are all long dead. All that's left are their ghostly images. Florence De Jong, my organ teacher, is also long dead (she died in 1990 aged 96). I'm 53 and she was very old in my early teens. She played the theatre organ and was a kind of gothic Liberace of her age. She had a white streak in her hair à la Elsa Lanchester in Brides of Frankenstein. She was a big star, she made gramophone records. I was a bit scared of her as a spotty adolescent in 70's clothes. She toured all over England playing the grand theatre organs of the time. She was very glamorous and she wore exotic costumes when she performed!

RR: Will you be using vocals in your score?
MJ: Yes - I have composed a score and written a long impressionistic verse which I sing. I've edited it to fit the images of the film. I use quotes from existing Tiger Lillies songs and there are improvised gypsy style passages. There won't be other live theatrics though - it's a great film. Hopefully I can highlight that greatness with my music.

RR: The central character - Cesare - is a somnambulist (sleepwalker) to dramatic effect. Is this something you relate to?
MJ: Cesare looks like a rock star. I think he's Dr Calagari's lover and they get off on scaring and murdering people. I think they're a couple of frauds and Cesare isn't really a somnambulist at all. I also think Caligari is the real evil - the manipulator - who has lead Cesare to murder. But hey that's just my funny interpretation. I've only ever been sleepwalking once to my knowledge. I was on tour and staying in a hotel on the outskirts of Thessaloniki in Greece. It was in a rural position and I woke up in a field, surrounded by sheep. I was a little startled at first but they looked more worried than I did...

RR: With this being your premiere solo show, independent of The Tiger Lillies, we have to ask - why?
MJ: No grand artistic reason I'm afraid. We had a tour of Australia cancelled so suddenly there was a months gap in my schedule. We're doing 'Caligari' later in the month [22 July 2012] in Warsaw at the 50th anniversary of the Luna cinema with the whole band. The Adrian's are totally cool about taking a break while I do the solo. They just fancied a rest these few weeks because we work so much. We have two managers - one suggested I did a solo run in Soho, the other suggested it should be 'Caligari'. Managers are great. I don't have to think at all. The full band will be back to London in September for our Hamlet show at the Southbank Centre.

RR: The Tiger Lillies are totally independent of any record label - is that a good place to be?
MJ: Since music became all about downloading I think a lot more artists are working independently - we're very happy with it. We sell hundreds of CD's at our shows and we've got nobody telling us what to do - I've always had a problem with authority!

RR: Your work has been inspired by the likes of Wiene, Brecht and Weil, Buchner, and Hoffman - what is it about ze German's?
MJ: I come from a fairly no-nonsense working class background. Late one night, in my early teens, I turned on the TV and there was one of those funny foreign films with subtitles. I started to watch it. I think it was a Fassbinder. It was dark and weird and full of perverts, drug addicts and prostitutes. I found it exciting and watched the whole film. It was the start of a love affair with the dark side of the human condition that I've kept to this day. German artists seem to be very good at looking at it too. The list is long Brecht, Hoffman, Fassbinder... I actually live in Berlin now.

RR: What is it about low life outsiders - pimps, prostitutes, drug addicts, losers and other 'unsavoury characters' - that inspire your work?
MJ: There's a bit of me in them, a suggestion of what I could have been, am, or have been - a prostitute, pimp, drug dealer, sexual deviant etc. Does mainstream culture repulse me? Pretty much - all those smiling happy people dressed the same, thinking the same, watching the same TV programmes. I'm just an alienated 53 year old.

RR: Last year you performed in Syntagma Square, opposite the Greek Parliament to an audience of protestors. Soon after you said 'it was definitely one of the most important performances in my career'. What made it so significant?
MJ: I'm attracted to the alternative, the alienated, anti-church, anti-capitalist, anti-mainstream. There has to be a better way? Doesn't there? No? Oh well all that alienation was a waste of time then!

RR: Could you treat us to a 'Martyn Jacques London anecdote'?
MJ: I feel uncomfortable with anecdotes. I always think of celebs on talk shows spouting forth anecdote after bloody anecdote. God I hate mainstream culture! I must remember to talk to my therapist about my alienation problem.

Soho Theatre & Tim Whitehead Management present
Martyn Jacques: The Cabinet of Dr Caligari
Wed 25 July - Thu 9 August 7.30pm, 10-11 August 9.30pm
Soho Downstairs, 21 Dean Street, W1D 3NE
Wed + Thu £15 (£12.50), Fri + Sat £17.50 (£15)
sohotheatre.com
tigerlillies.com
tim-whitehead.com