Clint Boon has been part of Manchester’s soundtrack for the best part of half a century.

As keyboard player and songwriter with Inspiral Carpets, he helped create one of the defining sounds of the Madchester era. He went on to front the Clint Boon Experience, became one of Manchester radio’s most familiar voices and remains one of the city’s busiest DJs and most enthusiastic champions of new music.

Now he can add author to the list. His first book, The Manchester Chronicles: True Tales of Music, Madness and Mayhem 1976-2006, tells the story of Manchester music through the people, places and moments Clint experienced first-hand.

We caught up with him for our latest Worker Bee interview to talk about where it all began, the career he never planned, life away from music and the Manchester places that mean most to him.

What first got you into music?

It started with hearing the radio in the 1960s. Radio was a massive thing for people like me.

I can remember hearing Manfred Mann, Dylan and The Beatles. My mum and dad, like a lot of people, had a very basic record collection. I always say they probably only owned about 20 albums, but there were records in there that really inspired me from an early age. Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones and Gary Lewis & the Playboys.

My mum and dad had a stereo record player in the front room and I used to sit between the speakers, amazed at the spectrum of sound and hearing different things coming through the left and right channels.

Then I fell in love with Elvis and all the rock and roll stuff.

By the early 1970s that was my world. Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent.

Then glam rock came along. Glam had a very strong 1950s feel to it. A lot of it was basically rock and roll played by blokes in platform boots, sequins and a bit of eyeliner.

But when punk happened, I was at art college. It just hit me that this was rock and roll for now.

This was something I could actually be part of.

I’d never really learned an instrument properly. I’d dreamed about being a musician or recording artist, but I’d never done much about it. Then I saw these punk groups and none of them were great musicians. They were all just blagging it.

I thought: I could do that.

That’s when I dropped out of art college and got stuck into being around music and, ultimately, being in a band myself.

Who have been the biggest influences on you?

Early on it was Elvis and all those rock and roll artists. Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent.

Then glam came along, and Showaddywaddy became my favourite band from the moment I first saw them.

But punk completely changed my life. That was the thing that made me decide I was actually going to get into a band.

Tell us something about yourself people might be surprised to hear.

I’ve only got one kidney.

Well, I’ve got two kidneys that are joined together. The layman’s term for it is a horseshoe kidney.

So I’ve basically got one decent-sized kidney.

I don’t think that’s even in the book!

What are you proudest of?

I think the records I’ve made.

Songs like This Is How It Feels and Saturn 5. For me, some of those are my finest moments as a writer.

And I’m proud of the radio career I had as well. I never set out to be a radio presenter. It happened completely accidentally and then I ended up doing it for more than 20 years, five or six days a week.

For a kid from Oldham who never really liked my own voice that much, ending up broadcasting to Manchester five or six days a week was quite a thing.

And I’m proud of the fact I’ve made a book as well. Releasing a book is quite big, isn’t it?

What does a typical day look like for Clint Boon these days?

When I was writing the book, I’d try to find three, four or five hours where I could sit in the dining room and get stuck into it, in between all the domestic stuff, my DJ work and everything I’m doing with the Inspirals.

It was always a bit chaotic.

Occasionally I’d be driving somewhere and have to pull the car over because a memory had suddenly come back to me and I wanted to write it down.

Outside of the book stuff, I’m a family man. I get a lot of DIY done.

We’ve got an old Victorian house, so there’s always something to do. At the moment we’ve got a bit of damp coming in because one of the gutters got damaged in the storms.

I don’t mind it. I like getting my tools out.

Very rock and roll.

And what do you do when you’re properly off duty?

Just me and my wife watching telly and films.

Because I spend so many nights out of the house working with the band or DJing, I really value every evening I get to stay at home.

At the moment we’re watching Ricky Gervais’s Alley Cats. I think it’s brilliant.

And we revisit old films. We watched Grease again the other night.

When I first met my wife Charlie, I wasn’t really into watching films I’d already seen. She was. She said, “You listen to your favourite album again, don’t you?”

And she’s right.

Just because you’ve seen Grease once 20 years ago doesn’t mean you can’t watch it again.

If music hadn’t worked out, what could you have seen yourself doing instead?

At the tail end of school I was talking about either becoming a vet or getting into architecture or graphic design. Something drawing-related.

I think the vet thing might have been a path I’d have gone down.

We’ve got a dog now, but until a few years ago we had about 12 different animals. Guinea pigs, hamsters, a lizard, these massive giant rabbits.

I’ve always liked animals.

So in a parallel universe, I reckon I’d probably have ended up being a vet.

I also spent some time in the furniture trade, so if I ever got really desperate I could probably get back into that world.

But whenever I’ve managed to stick to the creative stuff, it usually works out. I find my little niche and do all right out of it.

Red or blue?

Neither!

I appreciate the game, but I don’t support a team.

I recently did a little thing for Stockport County when they launched their new kit. It might sound random to some people, me being an Oldham lad, but my postcode for the last 20-odd years has been SK1.

I’ve got a connection with Stockport. I love the place.

It’s my home and it’s where me and Charlie have raised our boys. They’re very much grown up and made in Stockport.

Name your three favourite places in Greater Manchester.

Tampopo has been on our list for a long time.

When Charlie and I first met, we’d go there on dates. Then when we got married, we had our wedding meal there and hired the place out completely.

So Tampopo is always high on our list.

Then Dukes 92 still appeals to me. Not just because it’s a beautiful location, but because of all the memories I’ve got from going in there over the years. I even mention Dukes 92 in White No Sugar, which I released with the Clint Boon Experience.

And number three would be Afflecks.

Again, partly because of the memories, but it’s a constant. Even today, you go in there and there are no knobheads.

It’s culture. It’s feel-good. It’s inclusive. It’s a great little snippet of Manchester surviving.

And the memories of going there at the peak of the Madchester thing. Oldham Street and Afflecks, that whole area was very much the epicentre of everything that was going on.

More so than the Haçienda for me.

The vibe on Oldham Street on any given Saturday, that’s what Manchester was all about.

If you could change one thing about Manchester, what would it be?

I’ll go with what Ian Brown said.

If it had a beach, that’s the only thing that could make it better, isn’t it?

And finally, what do you love most about Manchester?

It’s the people. Definitely the people.

Without that warm spirit, a band like ours wouldn’t have been allowed to flourish and develop as we did.

And that’s what happens with anything creative here.

It’s like what you’ve done with the I Love Manchester brand. The city and the community have helped you do that.

It’s encouraging. It subscribes to what you do.

I think the people are what make it a magical place, really.

It’s a great place and I’ve got no plans of moving away yet.

I’m a proud Mancunian, but I’m a proud Stopfordian as well.

Meet Clint in person

Waterstones Manchester, Deansgate – 1st September

The Salty Dog – event and signing – 17th September

Salford Lads Club – signing – 19th September

Wax & Beans, Bury – event – 22 September

Louder Than Words Festival – Manchester – Friday 13th November at 6.30pm.