I was born on Hampstead Heath in 1953, in a maternity hospital adjacent to Whitestone Pond. As my father, Richard McNeff, was a repertory theatre actor I spent a nomadic childhood all over England and in Scotland, too. 

When I was 11, we settled in West Hampstead. I went to Westminster City grammar school. My long hair broke the rules, so I did my ‘A’ levels at Kingsway College and then took English at Sussex University.

My first job was as a carpenter for the Greater London Council. I was known as the “Ace Craftsman” as I was so ham-fisted. So, I went to Barcelona and taught English for the British Council. This was 1975, the year Franco died. Next, I went to Ibiza, then at its pristine best, sold Spanish foreign legion surplus in the hippy market and ran an international school. I also spent a year in Amsterdam where I worked in a concrete factory.

I returned to London for a while then taught in a washing machine factory in the Basque Country. It was the worst stage of the war between ETA and the Spanish state. In 1985 I was drawn back to Ibiza. I taught English, wrote songs and sang for a band called The Smugglers of Love. I became friends with the sculptor Barry Flanagan and curated shows for him.

Apart from a stint in Baku, I have lived in London since 1994, though I frequently travel to Spain. Until 2021 I worked for the London School of English in Holland Park, where I was in another group, Banned Practice, sadly missed (by me). I have a daughter called Astara and a grandson, Willow.