MARK Radcliffe’s cappuccino arrives at the table in the Cranford Café almost before he does.

“This is what it’s come to, I have a ‘usual!’, he jokes. He and energetic cavapoo Arlo are regulars here, and familiar faces around Knutsford.

Having lost his weekday BBC radio slot during recent cancer treatment, the 61-year-old has more time on his hands these days – but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Just over a year on from finishing treatment, the popular DJ remains in the clear and is settling nicely into a new lease of life.

“It was the worst thing that ever happened to me,” he says of the cancer in his tongue and lymph nodes, “but conversely it’s now one of the best.”

Tipping the work-life balance well into the leisure side of things – albeit against his will – the ‘semi-retired’ DJ says changes forced upon him by the BBC have led to a fresh perspective and new opportunities after 41 years as a full-time presenter.

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He said: “There are decisions they make which I find a little bit hard to understand, but I have had a good career and a fair innings so I try not to complain.

“Coming back from treatment I don’t have the energy that I had, so doing the weekend breakfast shows on 6 Music and the Wednesday night folk show – I have actually come to quite like that.”

Known for his love of folk music, Mark turned heads with his new electro-pop venture UNE, born out of a friendship with fellow Knutsfordian Paul Langley. The pair met after Man City fan Mark sought out a pub to watch the match, finding himself in the Builders Arms.

“We spent a lot of time together and one day he told me he made electronic music, and because he is such a clown I thought, ‘Oh, god’, it was going to be terrible and spoil a beautiful friendship.

“When he played it to me, it was surprisingly good. I said, ‘are you sure you've done this?’ UNE grew out of that, and after the cancer I was looking for new things to do.”

While it was a new step into the world of electronic music, performing has always been Mark’s ambition and indeed his forte, playing in bands since the age of 14.

As his recovery continued, Mark was able to work in a pressure-free collaboration with Paul, who would send across demos for Mark to write lyrics and melodies.

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The first album, Lost, brought together phrases for which there is no one-word translation into English. The lead single, Boketto, is Japanese for ‘staring absent mindedly into the middle distance’ –“I do quite a lot of that.”

“We have a lot of shared loves,” says Mark of his work with Paul and tech-wizard Jim Broughton of Knutsford Little Theatre, where UNE will play in February as part of a tour.

“New Order, Kraftwerk, Pet Shop Boys – our music was coming from a common set of influences.

“It was surprisingly natural and sometimes when I hear it I think ‘how have two pillocks from the pub come up with this?’”

An adopted Knutsfordian, Mark has grown fonder still of the town since his diagnosis and treatment.

“I love Knutsford, but what it doesn’t have is an arts centre or a venue for touring bands.

“I thought the Little Theatre was perfect. It’s a lovely stage, you get a comfy seat, a bar with decent beer, you can walk there – and hopefully people will go to the gigs and wonder what else is going on.

“For me, the idea that I might not be here and doing any of this focuses the mind. When you come up against life and death how can you not have a more positive outlook?

“Hopefully, it will stop me descending into grumpy old man-ness. I feel quite young and I have this positive attitude to life which I have never really had before.”

The music star reborn says revellers at the Little Theatre show on Saturday, February 29 can expect a rounded performance, complete with an aesthetic and an immersive element that suits the music.

With a set-up including lights, films, and ‘little men’ drawn in 15 minutes, it’s an act that works just as well in a 100-seat venue as it does in front of thousands at bluedot.

“It was one of the great days of my life, it went so well,” Mark recalls of the July 2019 gig. UNE are set to return to the Jodrell Bank festival this summer.

“I had that appreciation of standing on stage in front of 3,000 people when six months earlier I had been stuck lying in bed.

“It’s the gift that keeps on giving and I enjoy the smaller gigs just as much. It’s like being a kid, I still wake up in the morning and think ‘great, gig tonight’.

“People have given me the benefit of the doubt and I think that’s very kind. Kindness is what your life should revolve around, really.”

UNE play at Knutsford Little Theatre on Saturday night, February 29.

Tickets available at unemusic.com/hold-tight-knutsford