IT’S an exciting time for Adam Ficek. Not only has the Babyshambles drummer released a new EP, Apples and Engines, under his solo moniker Roses Kings Castles (RKC), but he has also just become a father – a fact I discover on the musician’s Twitter page a few days after our interview.

“What a long long long long night....” reads Adam’s tell-tell tweet, “off to Staffs with no sleep for 48hrs. Roll on Father’s Day.” Staffs refers to the 32-year-old’s performance at the V Festival in Stafford on Saturday, which, by all accounts of friends who made it to the gig, offered no signs the new father was chronically sleep deprived.

Speaking about going it alone, Adam, who released his debut solo album last year, tells me: “It’s daunting because it’s just me, but then I can meander the songs how I want. If something goes wrong, I can improvise. I’m lucky to have a good ear, so I can change the key and go back, but when you have a band it’s more difficult to correct mistakes.”

Describing his solo material as “melodic with an air of cynicism”, Adam is keen to stress that RKC is a very “different animal” to Babyshambles, which is fronted by the notorious rocker Pete Doherty.

“It’s easy to sell out gigs as Babyshambles, but with RKC I am essentially starting out as an artist. My first gig playing guitar and singing was only a year ago,” he says.

Brought up in Milton Keynes, Adam moved to Harlow as a teenager and completed a BTEC in popular music at the local college.

“Studying music I found something I could achieve,” he says.

After obtaining a degree in jazz and training as a teacher, Adam then got a job as a music teacher, before the opportunity arose to join Babyshambles in 2005 and he moved to Pete’s stomping ground of Camden.

Now living in “leafy” South Mimms, does he miss the circus he was part of for all those years?

“It’s nice to dip into that manic arena, but I got bored really quickly, there is a lack of substance. I would rather spend my time getting better at singing and playing. Ultimately I am a musician, I live to play music. I didn’t join a band to become famous, I did it because I love music.”

Apples and Engines is out now. For more information on RKC visit www.roseskingscastles.com