My coast: Martin Noble

'My earliest seaside memories are of holidays with my grandparents. We'd go to Filey and Scarborough [Noble grew up in West Yorkshire], on trips to Blackpool for the Illuminations, and kite-flying on Southport Sands. I once won a competition in Morecambe for who could suck a fruit pastille the longest. I managed two hours.

'My favourite stretch of coast is Pembrokeshire. I went scuba diving there, my first time in UK waters. It was freezing but amazing, swimming through kelp forests, admiring the ultra-violet lights of the lobster pots and the purple sea cucumbers. It was spectacular.

'Last June we went to the Shetland Islands to record a radio show. It was called In Search Of The Holy Quail with BBC 6 Music presenter Marc Riley and Guy Garvey from Elbow. It turned into a birdwatching trip when we visited the National Nature Reserve of Noss, which has thousands of gannets and cliff faces higher than blocks of flats.

'I've always enjoyed birdwatching but I don't have the twitcher gene. As a kid, I was forever rummaging in rockpools for crabs and sea anemones. I did a zoology degree and had a place at Plymouth to study marine biology. I put that on hold to be in the band. I can do it later.

'We once gave a journalist a grid reference to find us by. We were just having fun, but I'm a confirmed map user. Finding a settlement or escarpment stops you getting lost, as I recently did with my girlfriend when we did a coast-to-coast walk over Dartmoor and Exmoor. It was cold, dark and scary.

'The Scilly Isles are amazing. Making our first album, we played at the Scillonian Festival in St Mary's. The sea is like the Med - crystal clear. Two hundred people turned up to see us.

'We recorded The Great Skua because we wanted to name a track after a bird. The skua is unremarkable until it goes into action. It's like an oceanic pirate, tormenting other birds so they throw up their fish.

'Our music is inspired by our environment. We don't like sterile studios, which is why we've recorded in disused forts and water towers, where pipes squeak, the paint is peeling and you can scream down a corridor.

'Recording the song Canvey Island was a case of making a dream come true in reverse. BSP singer Yan had been listening to Radio 4, which was doing some Canvey-related programmes. We thought a visit was in order. Countryfile came and did a piece with us on the mudflats, surrounded by knots. What could be better?

'Living in Brighton is like being on a permanent holiday. I wake up early, grab a mask and snorkel, my fishing rod and barbecue, and cast off from the beach in Hove, hoping to catch a mackerel or three for lunch.

'We recently composed a new soundtrack for Robert J Falherty's 1930s documentary Man Of Aran. We're planning to go to Galway and trip over to the Aran Islands with the idea of writing some music or just soaking up the atmosphere.'

British Sea Power's new album, the follow-up to 2008's Mercury-nominated Do You Like Rock Music?, is out in July. See www.britishseapower.co.uk.