You’re performing on the final day of Shrewsbury Folk Festival later this month. What can your audience expect from your performance?
Well, it’ll be a collection of stories and songs from the back catalogue of Squeeze, sung by myself, as well as some new songs from my solo record. It’s a general sweep across the Difford board.

You’ll be sharing the stage with the likes of Andy Fairweather Low And The Low Riders, The Wilsons and Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys. Who are you most looking forward to seeing?
Andy I know very well. I love hearing him talk on stage and I love hearing him play, so I’ll definitely be hanging around for Andy. And just whatever else is around - I'm a big fan of the festival and I’m really looking forward to it.

Squeeze are kicking off their Join The Dots UK tour at Symphony Hall on 6 October. Tell us a bit about that…
Well, Squeeze have just recorded their 14th album, The Knowledge, and we’ll be performing probably all of the album on tour because it sounds so good. We’ve got a new bass player called Yolanda Charles, and Steve Smith is joining us on percussion and extra guitar, so it’s a slightly different line-up for Squeeze. As usual we’ll have a full production. Beyond that, I'm not sure how it’s going to be - we haven’t got into rehearsals yet - but we’ll definitely be playing the new album.

Glenn Tilbrook and yourself began your songwriting partnership in 1973. How did that come about?
I put an ad in a sweet-shop window for a guitarist to join a band and he was the only one to answer! For better or for worse we’ve been together for 44 years, which is quite incredible.

And how did you meet the rest of the band?
Glenn was a friend of Jools Holland from school, and the other members of the band just came from auditions or knowing each other.

If you could go back in time to Squeeze’s inception, is there anything you’d do differently?
I don’t think I'd do anything particularly different. Maybe I'd smile a little more.

You’ve curated multiple Songs In The Key Of London events, which have seen the likes of UB40, The Strypes and Sophie Ellis-Bextor perform. Can you tell us anything about the 2018 edition?
We’re looking at dates at the moment. It’s something I've done three times - at Greenwich Park, Regents Park and The Barbican. We’re looking forward to doing it next year and taking it to Australia too. What happens is, as soon as we’ve got a date in place, I pick up the phone and whoever is available at that point joins us on stage.

You’ve hosted songwriter workshops for over 25 years. For any budding songwriters out there, what’s the most important piece of professional advice you could give them?
Be open-minded to change and have realistic boundaries around the songs that you write and the people who you work with. It’s really important to know what you feel about what you do, and to make sure that you reach your goals with that in mind.

What’s your first musical memory?
The first time I really bolted on to any music was when I was having my tonsils out and my older brother bought me a single called Martian Hop by a band called The Ran-Dells. When I listened to it, I thought, ‘Oh my god, this is mad, what sort of band is this? I want to be in a band’.

What’s the biggest change you’ve seen happen in the music industry over the years?
Without a doubt, when the internet came along and took over. With Spotify and Apple and Tidal and Amazon and possibly Netflix too, people don’t access music in the way that they used to. It used to be a passion to queue up outside a record shop for a new record - but now, with a click of a button, I can have any music I want from around the world, instantly. There’s no build up - there’s no foreplay, if you like - it’s an instant gratification. I think that’s a little bit sad, but I come from a different generation from the people who like to listen to Ed Sheeran on Spotify.

What’s the most memorable performance of your career?
Squeeze played at the Albert Hall a couple of years ago for the last album, Cradle To The Grave, and that was a really amazing experience. We’d played there before, but we’d just had a new batch of songs and it sounded great. It felt great and everybody was on fire. Apart from that, these days I get a really big thrill from doing my solo shows. I did one in Portsmouth just recently and I think it was one of the best nights I've had as a solo artist.

And what are you most proud of?
There are a lot of things. I think I'm proud of our very first EP, which was called Packet Of Three, because it opened so many doors for us. It was wild to record, it was lots of fun - we were all jumping about on stage in those days. You can’t ever have that energy back because with age it just doesn’t happen. Packet Of Three for me would be the biggest turning point.

What does the future hold for Chris Difford?
We have the Squeeze album out, hopefully in October alongside the tour. We go to America with Squeeze and then, after that, it’s an open book. I like having very far-off horizons to aim for.

Chris Difford will be performing at Shrewsbury Folk Festival on Monday 28 August and Squeeze will be playing Symphony Hall on 6-7 October

Interview by Lauren Foster