GARY Watts, a self-styled 'mild-mannered IT bloke' who runs his own IT consultancy, enjoys people's surprise when they discover his secret life, as one half of Nature of Wires, a Herefordshire-based "dark electro goth band".

After a 20-year break - "we hadn't expected it last that long!" says Gary - the band are back, and next week sees the release of a unique album, Cyber Rendezvous, featuring the vocals of California-based former opera singer Countess M (Maren Northway). Though the pair have never met in the real world, they're attracting a significant following in the virtual one.

Gary and NoW vocalist Andrew Stirling-Brown first met at secondary school back in the 70s and started the band in the 80s, though, says Gary, "Andrew initially took a lot of persuading to sing vocals in the band." The name came, as names often do, from a random moment as Gary explains, "We were wrapping up at the end of a show and Andrew was talking about how the cables always got tangled and wound up. I said 'that's the nature of wires' and we both looked at each other and agreed that it would be a good name. Like a lot of names, it sort of stuck."

After 10 years touring the West Midlands, the band, now a three-piece featuring vocalist Sarah Bouchier (now Watkins) played their last gig in 1994 at Saxty's. "We'd run out of steam and hadn't got time to write new material, and decided to take a break."

However, after a false re-start in 2001, Gary got back into the music. "It coincided with marrying again in 2014 and I put my new-found creative streak is down to meeting Gwen."

Having started playing around again with synths and computers in late 2014, by early 2015 Gary had uploaded a few tunes, featuring US artists Kyle Monroe and KnowKontrol, onto Soundcloud. This attracted the attention of CountessM, and having signed a recording contract with Manchester-based Analogue Trash Records, the album is now complete and about to be released.

Last year, the duo enjoyed worldwide internet radio play, and in December last year, Gary, along with original singer Andrew Stirling-Brown, performed for BBC H&W Introducing. "They weren't keen on flying Countess M over for the session!" laughs Gary.

In the autumn NoW will be opening Manchester's Beat Cancer show, and Gary and Andrew have plans for an EP and possibly an album of new, cleaned-up versions of an earlier album Modus Operandi "The original recordings were a bit rough, but they've scrubbed up well."

Cyber Rendezvous is available to pre-order online at Amazon, iTunes and TrashDigital.co.uk.