Composer, singer, performer, songwriter, producer and legend, John Cale has sustained an uncompromising and respected musical career for over 40 years.

Co-founder of one of the coolest and most innovative bands in music history, The Velvet Underground (playing bass, viola and keyboards), Cale was responsible for much of the band's distinctive rock sound and low droning viola, most notable on classics such as Venus In Furs and All Tomorrow's Parties.

He has also recorded solo material and produced albums for Patti Smith, The Stooges, Brian Eno, Happy Mondays and former Velvets singer Nico, among others.

Born in Wales in 1942, Cale first went to New York to study music at the tender age of 20. Cale says he has never been awed by travel: For him it is a way of life. As suggested by the title of his 2003 solo album Hobosapiens, he has always thought of himself as rootless, a "transient."

"It has something to do with being shifty," he says, "not being comfortable in my own skin.

"I like to keep moving. I'm an impatient kind of guy. I've always had a need to find new audiences and new places."

This is something he admits has been difficult for his 20-yearold daughter, Eden, to accept.

"Growing up I don't think she understood why I kept going away all the time: 'This is the life your dad has, he's a travelling musican'.

"She found that hard but we had a good cry over it and now it's fine. We're very close."

Cale says he is happiest touring and on stage he is in his creative element. "You can really get stuck into the music and get a lot of work done," he says.

Next month he will release John Cale's Circus Live, a double album of live recordings of tracks performed over the past year, largely material from Cale's last three albums Black Acetate, Process and Hobosapiens.

He describes the album as "a real hard kind of rock record."

"It's been a while since I've worked with a band for a consistent amount of time," he says, "and it's showing results.

"People didn't quite know what was going to come out of this recording but for all the technical hitches in there, the fact there's such a spirit in the performances makes it really strong. That gave me a lot of satisfaction.

"I was really happy to show the band: 'Look, this is what you guys did, this is the standard - now we've got to go to the next step'."

Currently enamoured with Gun, a track which goes back to Cale's 1974 album Fear, he says in his warm, craggy voice: "it has turned into this monstrous thing with a life of its own, it is its own living organism.

"A song doesn't survive if you do the same thing twice. When it forces you into another world - then you gain something for yourself and people actually see you working your brain on stage and hear the wheels turning. Gun has just exploded. I'm really happy with it."

Driven to create all his life, Cale admits he rarely rests. When he does, he goes to the gym. "We're only renting space for a short time on this Earth so we better make it worthwhile. I don't get off on sitting doing nothing.

"I try and learn something all the time."

Starts 7.30pm. Tickets cost £16. Call 01273 673311