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Earlier this year at the gig in Horsham (1st July) the band told me that their manager, Tony Patoto, was leaving to pursue a new career in the USA. It was sad news for the band since Tony had been with them since the early days and had been the foundation stone of much of what they have achieved over the years. But they also knew that the new opportunity would be brilliant for Tony, so their sadness was mixed with good will and happiness for their good friend and mentor. At that time, the news was still being kept fairly quiet as Tony's visa and contract needed to be sorted out. But in September the news was finally confirmed and made public.

The previous month, August, I asked Tony if he would be willing to do an interview for Delirious.org.uk to talk about his time with Delirious? and what his new job would entail. I've done a number of interviews on Delirious.org.uk over the past few years. I've interviewed the band as a whole and as individuals, but I also like to get the views of people close to the band, like their crew and producers. Sometimes, as in the case of Julian Kindred (producer on World Service), they approach me offering to do an interview, but usually it's the other way round. I've only been turned down once, but thankfully Tony was more than happy to agree to an interview, which I was really pleased about because I knew that he had a superb insight to everything the band have done in the past decade.

Tony is an incredible guy. I've met him on numerous occasions, before and after gigs, in the studio and at the Furious? offices, and built up a good report with him. He is a very friendly and jokey kind of guy and always has a willingness to do whatever he can to help out. It took a bit of time to get the interview sorted out. He had a long wait for all his paper work to be sorted out before he could finally move to the USA and start his new job, and that kept him busy for several months. But he didn't forget his promise to do an interview, and now at last I'm able to share what he had to say about 'Life as the Delirious? Manager'. It's particularly interesting to hear about his new job, setting up a new mainstream record label for EMI in the USA called ReThink, aiming to bring Christian artists to the secular world. Just like he did with Delirious? All the best Tony.