Art Starter: Tomas Ford

If an actor was to play you in a movie who would it be? Straight out of the gate, I veto the idea of a Tomás Ford movie. I don't want a stack of people thinking they've had the experience of my show just by watching it on film, it doesn't work like that. But if we are going to go down this road... A lot of people wanted Justin Timberlake to get back to making music but it's become apparent that is a very bad idea. Just to keep him occupied and away from the recording studio.

What's a recent dream you have had? I'm heading to Edinburgh in August to play in a beautiful but very expensive venue, so most of my dreams at the moment are nightmare scenarios involving that going haywire. Last night I had a nightmare about not having any publicity out for Edinburgh and I was playing for four people each night. When I woke up, I started firing off press releases like a madman possessed.

What/who inspires you artistically? I like artists who forge out their own path; mad scientists like Grace Jones, The Flaming Lips, Iggy Pop and Regurgitator. I love watching bands with intense showmanship like SixFtHick and Beasts Of Bourbon, and I spent a long time building my chops by doing gigs alongside those kinds of bands. I guess nowadays I'm more inspired by what I can achieve in each song with the audience. I throw my cabaret skills at my ideas, splash video on the walls, change into a rad costume and throw techno and house beats on top and bend and twist everything until I end up with a show.

If you weren't a performer what would you be doing? If I wasn't a performer I would be working behind the scenes; I program and manage a Fringe venue in Perth called Noodle Palace, and I think if I wasn't doing this, I'd be sucked even further into that vortex. I don't really have a backup plan or alternate skills, I'm hardwired to be an artist.

If you could live in any decade of history, when would it be? Nostalgia is a curse. I'm an electronic musician, so going backwards isn't really my thing. I guess my life would have been easier in the '90s when people were actually paying for music, but I would never have been able to achieve the kind of show I put on back then. Menswear has been on a steady decline for the last sixty or so years though; I would live in the present, but if it's okay, I'll take my threads from the first half of the 20th century please.