“The countryside freaks me out – there’s not enough noise”: Martyn Ware on how the sound of the city encourages creativity

“At the time, we didn’t know anywhere else, so I first thought everywhere was like Sheffield,” Heaven 17’s Martyn Ware told us in our recent interview, reflecting on the importance of his South Yorkshire hometown shaping his attitude to music-making.

“It was only when you’d go elsewhere that you realised how different it is – you don’t walk through the city centre and hear grinding sounds? Or the sound of the drop forges coming down the valley?”