Are you working on anything other than music at the moment?
Jones Christopher, via email
Actually, I am working on two manuscripts, one non-fiction, one fiction. The non-fiction one is a little memoir of [photographer] Robert Mapplethorpe when we were young. The fictional work is a detective novel. I’m not going to tell you too much about that, as it’s very much a work in progress. What I will tell you is that it’s a historical novel set in London, with St Giles’ Circus as a key spot.

What is Kevin Shields like? Is he really a reclusive perfectionist?
Wendy Wu Wu, Dublin
Kevin Shields is like what you get if you mix a child genius, a hobo and a saint together. If you enter into Kevin’s universe, without design, you find that it endlessly unfolds, like his music. His mind is a lot like that music. It has many layers. It also has a melody! I have a very high opinion of Kevin, even though his music is too loud for me! I’m not ashamed to say that I can’t listen to his shows without wearing earplugs. But within that sound, obviously, it’s not just noise. There’s layers and layers and layers of experience. The universe that they’ve created in MBV is, to me, an endlessly interesting and beautiful one. I like working with him very much, too. He knows what he wants. Some people might see him as a perfectionist, but I also know him as someone who’s prepared to take big risks. Those performances we did at the Royal Festival Hall for The Coral Sea were done with nothing but trust. We talked a little about the landscape of my piece. I looked at his pedals, we sat, we got to know each other a little. For whatever reason, we really trusted each other, and just walked out on stage and did what we did. We didn’t spend weeks perfecting it or talking about it or practising or anything.

What are you reading at the moment?
Unni Bysveen, Norway
I’m just off around the world for a few weeks, and books are the one thing I worry about. I don’t worry about clothing – I throw a couple of T-shirts and a couple of pairs of dungarees and a black jacket and my Polaroid camera in the case. But I hate to leave my books behind. I get terrible separation anxiety! So I’m taking The White Guard by Bulgakov. I’ve read The Master And Margarita several times, but not this one. I’m also taking a copy of Oedipus, because I want to re-read it before seeing Ralph Fiennes playing the role on stage in London. I’m also taking Heinrich Boll’s The Lost Honour Of Katharina Blum, and a biography of René Daumal called The Life And Work Of A Mystic Guide.

Was there a single piece of poetry that affected you in your youth, or a book?
Juliette Lewis
Well, lots. But the thing that affected me the most – on a visceral level – was Illuminations by Arthur Rimbaud when I was 15 or 16. Poetry is so mysterious, and good poetry is often difficult to decode or decipher. I couldn’t say that I could decipher Rimbaud, but the beauty of it struck me so deeply. I felt akin to him, even if I didn’t understand all his references, the language was so beautiful that it captivated me. It still captivates me. I’d also say that, more than anything, he made me want to pursue writing poems on my own, because he gave me another way to approach poetry, through the prose poem, which was very important.

What’s the appeal of Rastafarianism?
MS Pender, Wellington, NZ
I’ve always been interested in religion. I was brought up a Jehovah’s Witness and I’ve always studied the Old and New Testament. I’m not a believer now, but I appreciate the links between art and faith, like the links between Catholicism and the great art of the Renaissance. So I find Rastafarian music and culture fascinating. I’ve always found Rastafarian musicians very interesting. I’ve found I can sit around with them and discuss music and the Bible. Rimbaud lived the last part of his life in Ethiopia and was one of the earliest white explorers, so I got to know a lot about Ethiopia through that. And, by extension, I got to know a lot about Rastafarian culture and their faith. Weirdly, I didn’t start smoking pot in the 1960s. I started in late 1974, and so my pot smoking really coincided with my entrance into that world. I liked how pot and the Bible and the music are all seamless. I always found it more interesting to smoke pot with Rastafarians who could pick up the Bible and talk about the Ark Of The Covenant or the Queen of Sheba – that was a lot more interesting than going to a party and smoking pot with a bunch of suburban people.

If you could own any artwork from history, what would it be?
Ben Tennyson, Australia
It would be very selfish to say Picasso’s Guernica! But apart from that… I would like to own one of the Endless Columns by Constantin Brâncusi. It’s such an elegant, inspiring, beautiful work. But that’s a difficult question, isn’t it? As soon as I say that I think, hmmm, I’d really like a Turner or a Jackson Pollock!

How was Meltdown and how has it changed the way you work?
Gaspar Garção, Portalegre, Portugal
I didn’t want to do Meltdown [Smith curated the festival in 2005] when I was first asked because I didn’t think I was qualified. I’m not very open and I have trouble socialising with people! I don’t like to go to parties, I don’t like to have to talk to people. So I thought it might be a social nightmare for me. So, when I took it on, I thought, right, I’m really going to go against my character and against my grain, and I’ve got to really try to reach out to as many people as possible and learn. And it’s made me much, much more open. I got to work with Sinéad O’Connor and Kevin Shields, and then The Black Crowes. I’m now writing stuff with Flea, and recording my next album with Silver Mt Zion and lots of other people. And I might even write a song with [playwright and actor] Sam Shepard. He was the first person I ever wrote a song with.

Picture credit: Melodie McDaniel