IE : But Taurus is usually a very creative sign . Are there any other arts that you ’ ve taken up ? MB : Yes , actually . I used to want to be an actor — I was into drama . I mean , initially I studied drama because I wanted to be an actor , not a musician . And then this ? This just happened . It

IE : Have you landed any good roles yet ? MB : Yeah , but just locally , in stuff for school and whatnot . But I don ’ t think I would have been a very good actor , actually . But them , I don ’ t really know because I never got the opportunity to find out . So , I think I found my true vocation , to be honest . IE : In 2021 , you and your original guitarist , Reg Smithies , officially reformed The Chameleons after several breakups and splinter projects . Which must have been either the perfect time for a reunion or th something that

IE : Had you landed any good roles yet ? MB : Yeah , but just locally , in stuff for school and whatnot . But I don ’ t think I would have been a very good actor , actually . But them , I don ’ t really know because I never got the opportunity to

Chameleons circa 1983 ( Burgess center right )

happened , and I had to make a choice . I was working for a place called Manchester Polytechnic , where a lot of really good actors graduated , and I was heading for studies there when I got a session for ( BBC 1 Radio DJ ) John Peel , and I had to make a choice , a definite choice , so I decided to stick with the music because music ’ s always been my primary love anyway . But I REALLY wanted to be an actor — that was my passion .

find out . So I think I found my true vocation , to be honest .

IE : And then in 2021 , you and your original guitarist , Reg Smithies , officially reformed The Chameleons after several breakups and splinter projects . Which must have been either the perfect time for a reunion , or the weirdest time , ever .

MB : Yeah . It was the weirdest time , ever . I mean , obviously , we didn ’ t expect the world to shut down , so there was two years of complete inactivity because we couldn ’ t really do anything . And I ’ d been living in the United States , but I had gone back too the UK to play three shows . Well , one in Athens , and two in England , and while that was happening ( in March of 2020 ), all hell broke loose , and president Trump decided to close the border . And at the time , I only had an 01 Visa , not the green-card residency visa I have now , so I couldn ’ t actually re-enter the country , so I couldn ’ t get home for two years .

And I couldn ’ t work , either , because obviously the whole industry had shut down , so there was very little I could do . But during the second wave of the pandemic , we did a couple of things . We did a live-show stream from our studio in Manchester , where we worked , and then we did another one from my friend ’ s studio , which wasn ’ t actually live , but we filmed it and streamed that . But apart from that ? We weren ’ t able to do anything .

IE : Where were / are you living in the States ? MB : I ’ m home right now . I live in Arlington ,