“Hopefully the lines and soundbites that people are hearing in my music will be associated with Manchester, as opposed to, say, Wonderwall.”

Antony Szmierek is a teacher by day and a solid gold wordsmith cum music producer by night, sort of like if Batman came from the Estates of Manchester, rather than Wayne Manor. Here in this chat, we talk to an artist whose star is in the ascendancy. Antony is punctual AF, is a little knocked sideways that suddenly, his music is setting feet-tapping, tongues wagging and keyboards clacking. We discover that the Manc Mike Skinner is an obvious tag, Szmierek bristles at Oasis still being known as the Mancunian ‘sound’, how his song writing has improved and, though at pains to remain true to his roots, Thai Sensations crisps are the go-to munch.