Supergrass Singer Gaz Coombes Reveals All About Debut Solo Album

His band only split last April after 17 years together - but Gaz Coombes, former frontman of Britpop legends Supergrass has told Spinner he's almost finished his debut solo album.

Talking to us from his home in Oxford -- which has a basement studio -- Coombes revealed the as-yet-untitled record was more than half-finished.

He says, "It's going well actually, I've got five or six completed and totally mixed, so half the album's totally finished, and the other half is written and just in the process of recording bits and bobs and finished vocals. It's sounding great, I'm really chuffed."

Coombes explains that oddly, he'd been galvanised into action by the Supergrass split rather than wanting to take a break.

He says, "I just really wanted to make it. I had a really productive couple of months, after the split. There's a lot of songs that came from frustration, that feeling of ants in your pants, just a lot of energy blasted out."

As to what his solo material would sound like, Coombes hints, "It's upbeat in many places, mixed with driving beats, in a cinematic, sort of psychedelic way. Will it scare Supergrass fans? I really don't know."

The record is being co-produced by Sam Williams, who was behind the desk for the first Supergrass album 'I Should Coco,' and features Coombes playing all the instruments.

He explains, "When I started out, I was recording it on my own in my own time and doing a lot of the drums, and basically just playing everything, how I could hear it. I suppose through years of playing different instruments I'm able to do it. I feel quite lucky that I can do that. If I've got an idea, I can just do it quickly.

"It just ended up being that way and I surprised myself in so many ways. A lot of the drums are different odd cut up beats and weird things which I love. I need to do those things, get them out quick and spontaneous. That was the idea, spontaneous quick expression of my basement world."

As for why he decided to make a break from the band he'd been in since a teen, Coombes explained that he just felt that something was missing.

He said, "I think we felt it just wasn't connecting. We were wanting different things, or we didn't know what we wanted. There were a lot of clashes. We're still really good friends though. But the three of us just weren't connecting the way we had done before so, there was no point doing it. I just felt everyone should go on a little adventure."

Coombes, who is currently making his acting debut starring as himself in an ad on British TV for the Toyota Yaris car, is looking to release the album is the autumn and is in discussions with a variety of record labels.

You can see him making his acting debut below: