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Social media has revived your song Headlock, but how did it feel two decades back when you had to develop, publicize and distribute the Speak For Yourself album almost entirely solo?

In those days if you were blessed you got into music or style publications. The primary exposure I got was in the electronic music journals, but then the track Hide and Seek was in a popular TV show, Headlock got on the broadcasts and I started getting acknowledgment. If only we could have had TikTok and all this complimentary marketing in that era … but if I’d received then the kind of focus I get now, I might have made changed paths, so I wouldn’t have changed anything.

Did you really remortgage your flat to finance Speak For Yourself?

It took me four years making an album in [the electronic duo] Frou Frou on Island Records, but it didn’t break even so I didn’t receive any payment. Making another album with that label would have felt like taking your best dress back to the dry cleaners after they burned it. After I got out of that deal, no bank would lend me any money. Then I realised that my two-bedroom flat in the city I’d bought for a specific amount was worth an increased value a year later. I remortgaged it to make the album and had no regrets. Amusingly, after all the attention on TikTok recently I’ve just received my earnings from Frou Frou after a quarter-century.

In the past, you recorded and toured with an iconic musician. How did the partnership begin?

I met Jeff when I was young at a creative retreat in a French estate in the a region. I was considerably less experienced and introverted so I got pretty drunk. I was sitting outside strumming poorly to myself and Jeff said: “I can demonstrate techniques.” I said: “That’s impressive!” Later that night I ended up steering a golf caddy around the estate and crashing into Miles’s mum’s valued ceramics. Seven days after I got a message from my manager asking: “Did you meet Jeff Beck?” He told me he was this really famous, legendary guitarist – I had no idea – who wanted me to collaborate vocally. I sang his gorgeous Nadia as best I could and did performances with him. He was a sweet man and I loved him so much. A lot of people from that generation are just so appreciative to have been able to do what they loved all those years, and their egos are very small in comparison to the amount of success they achieved.

‘I wish social media existed and all this no-cost advertising back then’ … Imogen Heap, her location, the mid-2000s.

This unique project is a personal musical piece, intended to evolve over time every seven years. How hard was it to summarize a timeframe into 60 seconds?

I’m unsure about my success, but I sat in a specially designed chair and asked audiences: “Which unwritten song matters to you?” There were hundreds and hundreds different answers, but all reflecting personal timelines. For anyone aged early childhood it was basic terms like “cat” or “piano”, from childhood it was fun, 14-21 was about self-discovery and adulthood “professional uncertainty and that maybe I shouldn’t be with my partner.” I didn’t complete 35-42 because my sister died in my that period and I just couldn’t do it, but I’m about to release the final piece, a extended composition called that name, about who I am now. This project is all true. The line “Wonderbra thrown around the German classroom … I’ll never live it down” is about the time my acquaintance – took my stupid padded bra out of my drawer and discarded it. Then everyone threw it around. I was deeply embarrassed.

How did you get the inspiration for that joyful music? It reliably cheers my young child whenever I put it on, so I appreciate it.

An infant nutrition firm that organization wanted to create a piece of music that would make babies happier, so they put me in a room with scientists, psychologists and 50 babies. I iterated various bits of music depending on their reactions. My two-year-old daughter Scout started some of the melodies. We’d taken her to the Transport Museum so that’s where “those playful lyrics” comes from. The sound at the outset is her amused by an animal. Young listeners enjoy the music, but it relaxes caregivers, too.

Were you a troublemaker in class and if so what were you resisting?

It troubles me for some of the things I did. The final incident came when I told the staff member off and they dismissed me, but they still needed me to be the jewel in the crown for the school performance, so I ended up staying with the principal and she was very supportive. I just found that environment tedious. I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and autism, which might explain why I’ve always wanted to shake it up and do different projects.

What shades have you tried?

Lately perhaps, actually, all kinds of green and stuff. When I was younger I had self-image concerns, so like I’d wear accessories to make my legs not look so skinny or wear over-the-top costumes with embellishments. For the many years I’d back comb my hair into a huge bush because I felt my head was too tiny. It’s only in the recent period I’ve realised I actually accept myself – I just needed to stick some layers in it.

It’s been 11 years since your last full-length release. Will we ever get a another album?

Actually, I did the themed project [The Music of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – in Four Contemporary Suites], and a previously I made the music to an digital production called Climate of Change with my collaborator that individual, who gave me a various noises like environmental samples, which we turned into a two-part release. I just got bored of the song structure, but now I’m really interested in spontaneity and creating spontaneously. I’ve spent countless time caged up in the studio and I’ve foregone experiences. There will be a record shortly which will be the conclusion of that phase but I’m more excited about creating music in real time.

‘I dedicated extensive time to recording and I’ve sacrificed experiences’ … The artist performs in Los Angeles, the near future.

Several years ago, Taylor Swift invited fans to her property to hear her new album that record while she provided snacks. It seemed a very characteristically personal thing to do. Had you discussed audience engagement when you worked together on that song, that title?

No. I think, like me, she just values audience feedback. I’m constantly dragging people to the studio going: “Listen to this” It’s touching to see if something you’ve just created impacts people. I’ve had lots of fans round to events at my house and I’m sure her fans are as nice as mine.

Last year, a article about your goals to use technology in concerts. Fans expressed concerns. Is it still progressing?

A hundred percent. When people think of AI they maybe think of this independent entity making all the music while I’m sitting there being a puppet. I see it as a partnership. Say I’m in a outdoor space and there’s {dog sounds