A towering, sneering peddler of lowlife lullabies devoted to drunks, nutjobs, hookers and hobos, Nigel Burch uses his tiny banjo-uke to deliver jolly, toe-tapping tunes with a soul as black as pitch. But even after 30 years in the business - and two storming albums with his band The Flea-Pit Orchestra, which features Andrew Rankin of The Pogues on drums - the big man with a small instrument still busks on the streets and subways of London to make ends meet.

Although your music burns with all the passion and intensity of punk rock, it's delivered using traditional instruments. How did this come about?

I come from a musical family. My dad was a Desert Rat and carried his banjo with him throughout the Second World War, and my uncle George - a scary-looking bare-knuckle fighter from Tilbury Docks - played the mandolin. I was brought up on music-hall songs and post-war pop music, but I never liked the electric guitar as I find it too macho. I still ended up playing in punk bands, though - supporting the likes of The Damned and Sham 69 - but it wasn't until I discovered the banjo-uke that I really felt like I'd come home.

Playing your style of music must limit the sorts of places you can play.

I've played some weird places. A slot busking at the Chelsea Flower Show four years ago was the best; Princess Margaret ran over my foot in her wheelchair, then Michael Heseltine and all these other faces came strolling past who I only recognised from TV and souvenir mugs. Prince Philip's car also stopped in front of us, right in the middle of me playing 'Misery Guts'.

Would you ever like to have a hit record?

Well, times have changed. As a young whippersnapper I dreamed of being on Top Of The Pops, but if the equivalent of that today is being a ringtone on a schoolkid's mobile then I'm not interested. Being a non-hit wonder is fine by me. I'll never be a household name adored by millions of simpletons. If things were any different, I'd wonder what I was doing wrong.

Why do you think the most interesting music is the least popular?

I've said it before and I'll say it again;
shit always floats to the top.

BOTTLE SUCKER, OUT NOW, FLEAPITORCHESTRA.CO.UK; MYSPACE.COM/NIGELBURCH