IF THERE was an award for the most ubiquitous person on the local scene, then a likely contender for victory would h be Jay Taylor. Erstwhile Goldblade member, promoter, producer, writer and hair stylist, it's meant that perhaps the greatest weapon in his arsenal, nu-blues warriors Bone-Box, have been on the back burner. No longer, says Jay in his city centre apartment, budgies chirruping in the background.

''I've always felt there's enough time for everything, but Goldblade and Bone-Box are priorities, so I stopped promoting things, stopped doing a lot of writing and did less production.''

In the year since debut single Trusty Hound set out the stall, he's been stabilising the line up, now at eight people.

''It's not like I wanted it to be this grand ELO-sized, Bad Seeds-sized, superband, but to get one great trumpet player is a miracle, but to get one who's also a great guitarist, or can be a multi-instrumentalist is just nigh-on impossible.''

Between that and forming the post-Elbow foundation for Uglyman Records, Bone-Box have finally found time to launch their debut EP. Jay explains the gameplan.

''The foundation of all Rock'n'Roll is obviously the blues and I wanted to be in a blues band. But the minute I thought about it, I thought - you actually really like Roni Size don't you, you still like Fugazi, you still like hip hop records, God, isn't that Miles Davis record great. So the more I thought about it, the more I thought that with the right line-up, I could probably dip my toe in a few different genres. Keep a realistic musical thread that's obviously defined as a band, but expand your parameters. Obviously Goldblade's a rock'n'roll band; it's just a straight down the line, kick ass rock'n'roll band, that's what we're really good at. But I thought this could be something else.''

The result is a multi-faceted monster of dustbowl sleaze and melodic origami. Nodding towards Ol' Sun House in a way that would frankly baffle Gomez, the tracks that make up the EP take on a live life-force that's swampier still.

''Setting the stage up is like a mathematical combination,'' chuckles Jay, ''but we've kind of got it nailed down now. I actually like musicians scrunched together. Even on a big stage we'd probably play in the middle. Some of the songs don't have set down structures, they are kind of flexible, and you can breathe loud or small. And you can only do that well if you're within eyesight and hearing distance.''

And then there's Jay the frontman. He's known to perform with his back to the audience, adjusting monitors, while singing with a gravel-pit of a voice at odds with his yellow-haired, slightly effete mannerisms.

''I can go low, I can't go high,'' he sighs. ''And also, all the singers I really like have always gone low. Johnny Cash or Isaac Hayes, but I never really liked high singers. I was never a big Bee Gees man, or Jimmy Somerville. And also, I like low, the character of the music is quite low music. Some of the ideas are quite dark and low and base. There's lots of things about faith, and faith in the future and ideas about making positive choices, but a loads of it's dark as well. Most people are horrible aren't they?''

But not, obviously, the seven other men who make up Bone-Box.

''I'll be in this band till I die. And my voice will get better. By the time I'm Johnny Cash's age it'll sound great. It'll be so low, only dogs will be able to hear me.''

Bone-Box play Matt & Phreds Jazz Club on Wednesday. The Bone-Box EP is out this month through Uglyman.

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