The time when Oxford hosted Radio One Sound City is just a distant memory. And things certainly have changed since those vibrant days, writes Eddie Grimstead.

Bands who were causing a buzz of excitement are now history. One act that caught the imagination of the nation at the time were Nought, thanks to John Peel. They 'arrived' with a single, Cough Cap, Kitty Kat, via Shifty Disco when the locally-based label was releasing local acts' material on a regular basis. This was followed by the Sput EP with Dustball (RIP), A Quick One Two, to coincide with the week-long Sound City festival.

James Sedwards, guitarist and driving force behind Nought, was described by John Peel "as the only person to make me feel jealous who wasn't a football player."

On the subject of that John Peel quote, James says: "It's quite an accolade really, particularly when you think that he's met everybody in the history of rock and pop. It's a very flattering thing for him to say.

"He's what can only be described as a big sweetie, a generous person. But it's not something I take too seriously, what I did that impressed him was not the most difficult thing in the world to do, it was more ideas than anything else. But still, it's nice to have had it said." Several years down the road from Oxford Sound City, Nought's eponymous debut album was finally released on October 23 and the band play their first hometown show in two years at The Point on Saturday.

"It's difficult to talk about the album," James says. "It's been this huge millstone. I couldn't listen to it for a while.

"People I live with have got copies and would play it. I'd say, 'Look, can you wait till I go out before you play it!' Then, the other day we got the finished copies with the artwork, as a product. I put it on just to hear if everything was all right, and started listening to it.

"I felt compelled to go back and listen to it from start to finish. It is a good record. I'm glad that now, as it's come out, that I can enjoy it. It has a huge mixed bag of memories and emotions. There were so many twists and turns, so many difficulties and disasters.

"It all started a week before we started recording. We were booked into a studio for three weeks. If we'd have known then it would take three years to get it out we may have given up then. It was through sheer perseverance that it's out at last." There have been several changes to Nought's line-up since Sound City.

"The new line-up is myself on guitar, Johnny Mitchell on drums, Santiago Horro on bass and Suzie O'Neil on keyboards and electronics," James explains.

Currently Nought are out on tour. "It's the first tour with this line-up, it's a good challenge for us. It generally depends on how we feel on the night whether we play just pieces from the album or a mixture of the album and new material.

"The album is virtually impossible to play in its entirety live because of the orchestration. It's virtually a different band on the record. The new live set up has to find its own identity and move on."

Much was made of Nought's use of an electric drill as part of their live show. "We've still got it!" James says. " I've been doing a spot of DIY, putting up some shelves. We'll see about taking it out on tour. It was never intended to be a gimmick. It was never meant to be the highlight of the set."