IT has been a busy few years for former The Verve guitarist Simon Tong.

After the break-up of the band which catapulted him to fame in the 1090s, he joined the short-lived group The Shining, before a stint performing live with Blur in 2002. It was then he formed the partnership with the group's front man Daman Albarn that pulled him towards Gorillaz in 2005, and ultimately their new band, The Good, The Bad & The Queen.

There have been other projects, he says, somewhat unenthusiastically during a busy day of interviews, but this one is going well.

In fact, the band's first album, which was released on the day we spoke, had been well received by the press.

The other members are The Clash bassist Paul Simonon and Afrobeat pioneer and Africa 70 drummer Tony Allen, so they have been in bands before, he says. Now, they are having fun.

"We're four old men just messing around, " he said. "It's quite new and quite fresh soundingthat's why it's so enjoyable."

Damon, in particular, is fun to work with, he says.

"He's very good at letting people do their job.

He lets you do your thing and tries to keep it interesting. Sometimes in the studio recording work, he'll suddenly scrap a song and bring a new one out. He keeps you on your toes."

Summing up the band's sound doesn't come easy to Simon. It is full of familiar influences though, he says, and lists Jamaican, American country, English psychedelia and African beat among them.

Herculean, the first single, was released on October 30 and live performances now include the BBC'S Electric Proms in Camden, three warm-up gigs in East Prawle, Devon, and a performance at Wilton's Music Hall, East London. The second single, Kingdom Of Doom, was released earlier this month.

The job is keeping him busy, he admits, but he still has fingers in other pies. When The Verve split up in 1999, he decided to study media at Leeds University. He enjoyed the experience, he says, but was pulled back into music.

Now, as well as performing, he spends works on a small folk label he started with friends, as well as production.

He is not sure what the future holds, but there is no rush.

"I look for things that are going to be challenging, " he said. "I'll be doing this for the rest of the year and then I'll think of something to do next. Maybe when September comes I'll start sweating a bit."

The Good, The Bad & The Queen, January 29, The Irish Centre, Leeds, 8pm