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Two time World Superbike Champion James Toseland is enjoying his new career as a musician, currently on tour around the United Kingdom with his band to promote his new album. WorldSBK.com caught up with the Englishman for an interesting interview about the new job and many other topics related to the Superbike World Championship and his past career as motorcycle racer.

How is your new career in music progressing?

"The album came out last Monday, it's doing really well. It's going to be in the charts, which is amazing over here. We started the tour on Saturday 22nd in the UK."

You have always been into music and played gigs, but now you do it at a completely different level

"Definitely. As soon as I stopped racing I knew I wanted to make my own music. It's just amazing that people are excited and want to come and see you play. It's nice to write your own music and receive this kind of response."

Racing and music require a lot of concentration, do you find any similarities in the way you clear your mind and keep the concentration up before and during races and during gigs?

"It's not that intense during gigs, but obviously if you lose concentration on the bike, it hurts (laughs). If it happens with music, it's not such a big problem. But it's much more intense on a different level, because everybody is looking straight at you. It's actually easier to go around at 200 mph on a motorbike than stand in front of everybody. It's a different kind of pressure, but the nerves before the gig and before the races are very similar."

Did you watch the first round at Phillip Island? What is your view on this year's series?

"I thought Eugene Laverty's performance on the Suzuki was outstanding, to come from behind like that and win the race… I think if it wasn't for the breakdown he could have won both races. The Aprilia is strong with both Melandri and Guintoli and I think it's the bike to beat again. Tom Sykes has actually never liked the track so I think it's going to be a very close championship, with five or six guys challenging for the title."

What do you think of Alex Lowes? Another young and talented British rider making his way in World Superbike a bit like you during your first years in the championship…

"Alex Lowes was as fast as anyone in Phillip Island. He is fast every time he gets on the bike. It's good to have a young talent with a well-known name so the fans can come and support him. It's very good for the championship."

What do you think about the EVO class?

"Something had to be done to make everything cheaper. When Sylvain Barrier got on track during the tests he was not that far away. In the future manufacturers won't have to spend a lot of money to make you competitive."

You won one title with Ducati and Honda, two manufacturers who are trying to be at the front again. Why do you think are they having so many difficulties?

"There has been a lot of change over the years. I know Aprilia, Kawasaki and previously BMW have put a lot of money into the development of their bikes. HRC does not have that much involvement with Superbikes compared to those manufacturers, but with the EVO class hopefully it's going to be different for them. Ducati I think had a fundamental problem with the stroke within the new engine, and they realised that they couldn't produce the horsepower. So it's technical on the side of Ducati and it's about money on Honda’s. If Honda wanted to win the championship they could."

Speaking about Sylvain Barrier, how is he doing?

"I've been spending a lot of time talking with his mom and dad and I spoke to him on Thursday. He has some facial injuries but he's had an operation on his mouth and he is OK now. He got home on Wednesday."