He found fame and toured the world as one third of Faithless but when the band split in 2011, Maxi Jazz thought it was for good. But things took a surprising turn and now Norwood musician is back on the road not only with Sister Bliss and Rollo for Faithless’ 20th anniversary tour, which comes to Ally Pally on Friday (Dec 4) but also playing guitar and singing with his new band The E Type Boys who play Village Underground in Shoreditch on Monday (Dec 7).

We caught up with the 58-year-old to find out more.

It’s all come at once hasn’t it?

It’s worked out that way. Since May last year I’ve been getting my band together and Faithless came up and said they wanted to put out a commemorative album and do some gigs. At first I said I couldn’t really spare the time because I was trying to get my band up to scratch but they said ‘bring them as well’. So it’s a bit of a double shift but its great as the E Type Boys got to do festivals in the summer that we wouldn’t otherwise have got to play, being an unknown band without any music out. So it’s been very helpful.

What prompted The E-Type Boys?

After Faithless finished I thought I would maybe do a hip hop album but decided to take a year off first. It was during that time that the guitar music started coming out. I was spending wintertime in my mum’s house in Jamaica and have got a studio there and sent time getting my songs together. Then I came back and rang up my old keyboard player Chris Jerome and played them to him and he liked them and so I decided to get a band together and here we are.

Had you been working on that new music for a while?

Yes, 2004 I’d started to take a guitar on the road with Faithless, as it can get very boring in your hotel room. I have had a guitar since I was 17 and used to mess around on it but then one day in 2005 in my mum’s house I wrote this song, Going Back to the Bottle I thought it was pretty good. Then three years later I wrote another one and the next year three. So suddenly I had five songs and after a while thought I would do something with them. They just fell out of me.

What sparked that first song?

I had terrible flu in Jamaica and would wake up at 2.30am drenched in sweat and feeling like death so I decided I needed something to keep me awake long enough that when I did go to sleep I would stay asleep. So I decided to write a song and only once I’d finished it would I be able to go to bed. I had this four-chord bluesy rock progression that I decided to use and it happened in about an hour and a half, it was the oddest thing. Then I got a pen and paper and wrote the lyrics in about 30 minutes. The really odd thing was that until that point I couldn’t play guitar and sing but I finished the song at about 3am and I was determined that when my mum and dad woke up I would be able to play it to them. So I sat up for two hours learning how. I still haven’t managed the playing and dancing yet though!

What’s it about?

A guy who’s woman has split up with him so he goes back to the bottle. There’s always a little bit of truth in the songs but I have never been an alcoholic, although I do like a beer.

What can people expect from the E Type Boys gig?

It’s a weird one because when I play records I tend towards hip hop and reggae but when I pick up a guitar the blues comes out, which I grew up with. I’m into Steve Miller Band and JJ Cale but also Family Stone and James Brown and jazz, I love jazz, all those influences are woven into the music. We have just done a version of Faithless song Mass Destruction in a dub reggae style.

Who did you admire growing up?

My two biggest heroes were Cassius Clay and Jimi Hendrix. Growing up as a young black boy in the early ‘60s there were no black role models but then here was Cassius Clay ,the most handsome man I had ever seen and then Jimi, he was the one who got me into electric guitar, he had that wild hair and when he smiled the sun came out. He was clearly the best I the world and black just like me so it gave me that first idea that I could achieve something even though I lived in Croydon.I never tried to reproduce his sound as I knew there was no point so I have developed my own thing with no formal training and am told I use quite unusual chords.

What was the first music you owed and listened to?

The first single I bought was Layla by Derek and the Dominos and my parents liked ska and calypso and a lot of jazz and film music. I was listening to pop and rock because everyone was but in my teenage years I started listening to James Brown and going to clubs and hearing live music and my mind was smashed to bits. So all those bluesy and pop and rock influences are in my new music. It brings together all of my influences.

Will there be an E Type Boys album?

Yes we are nearly finished. After the summer festivals we went back into the studio and re-cut all the songs and it sounds so much better after our live experience. We recorded at RAK in St John’s Wood and we hope to have it out April.

Did you feel frustrated when Faithless wanted to get back together?

Frustrated is the wrong word. I felt I didn’t have the time. But then it was mooted I bring E-Type boys along and I had been rehearsing them once a week for nine months so we were more than ready to go out and play and it would give us great experience ahead of next year when we properly launch. So timing wide it couldn’t be better.

Did you know Faithless would reform.

No, for me that was that and it was on to the next thing. Those were old songs and I had new ones. But I was swayed when we went out over the summer and the response we got was so amazing. I thought people would have moved on by now but obviously not and that made me feel quite proud.

How is it being back on stage?

It’s odd because you go on stage with Faithless in front of these great big audiences with massive smiles and we have got three new members of the band, so that makes it all feel new in some respects. I’m amazed people are still into Insomnia and jump around just as much as they did 20 years ago. All credit to Blissy not many people can write hit after hit and have them loved for years. She doesn’t realise just how talented she is. Then The E Type Boys is my brand new baby and a fresh vibe. So at the moment I’m having a good time.

Will there be a new Faithless album?

I’m not ruling it out but it won’t be in the short term.

Why the name?

There was a group of lads just after the war called the Bentley boys who were ex Spitfire pilots and while everyone else was building small light cars they would go out over Europe driving these great big cars and carousing and I just thought that was so romantic so I wanted to find a band name that touched on that. E Type is very British, sporty and devil may care.

Are you still in to racing?

Yes but I haven’t done any for two years because I’ve been too busy.

Do you have an E Type?

Not yet!

How do you relax?

Like most people I enjoy spending time with my friends as I can relax and not be Maxi Jazz with them. I drink a lot of beer and one of my trademarks used to be I’d walk on stage with a can and something to smoke but once you become successful and there are 14 year olds being exposed to your stuff then you have to cut with that because you don’t want to be influencing anyone else. There is a line you have to draw with how you express things. I curse quite a lot but I can’t be doing that in interviews and allowing younger people to think it’s cool.

Do young musicians these days get that?

Well the word young is crucial. If all of this had happened to me when I was 17 then I would probably be an ar****le too. If you are young and allowed to be stupid and rich enough to buy Brazil then you will find yourself in all sorts of situations. And if you have success early it’s not enough time to develop those true relationships you have in your 30s when you have known people for years and you need to keep you sane. I didn’t make a bean out of the music business until I was 37 so by then no one could convince me to start taking cocaine and I wouldn’t be told. It’s much easier as a grown man to keep your feet on the ground. I’m glad it didn’t come sooner for me. In Jamaica they have an old saying ‘nothing ever comes before the time’.

What advice would you give to musicians starting out?

Whatever happens don’t stop, whatever you are doing musically and believing in yourself because you will be tested to the end of your patience and stress level. You have to have this strong determination that you will not stop until you see a result and if you maintain it through thick and thin you will get what it is out of life you really are seeking. It’s not something you can have a go at then stop.

Is it easier for you second time round?

No. It’s every bit as difficult because like any human being you are wracked with self doubt and have to battle that. It is all fresh and new and at the moment all my songs and seem to be the start of a very small snowballing gathered speed slowly. I can’t wait though. If I could do two gigs a night with The E-Type Boys I would. We are like a family.

Details: maxijazz-etypeboys.com, faithless.co.uk/20