Feeder songwriter Grant Nicholas has spoken of his regret he did not answer a phone call from bandmate Jon Lee - 20 minutes before he hanged himself.

He revealed he rejected a mobile call from the drummer whilst eating out at a restaurant with a friend because his number was not displayed.

Speaking to Kerrang magazine in the first major interview and photoshoot since the January tragedy at Lee's home in Miami, Nicholas said he wished he could "turn the clock back" to have discouraged his good mate.

Jon Lee was a Nicholas' long-time friend

The pair had been inseparable as friends in Newport, south Wales, forming rock trio Feeder in 1995 and attracting increasing critical acclaim.

Nicholas and bassist Taka Hirose have vowed to carry on making music and a new album is slated for October release.

The vocalist told Kerrang, in an emotional interview, he did not answer the telephone call from the US during on 7 January because the caller was not identified. He later left and went to bed.

The phone rang again, waking Nicholas, who, this time, expected it to be Lee, 33. Instead, his brother Andrew informed the singer of the suicide.

"I wish I could turn the clock back now," Nicholas said.

"Maybe if I'd spoken to Jon and talked some sense into him, then maybe I could have...

"Maybe he hadn't even decided to do it then... you just never know."

A July inquest at Tredegar, south Wales, heard Lee had also phoned Brazilian model wife Tatiana Englehart at work, warning he was "going to do something stupid".

She returned to their home to find her husband hanging from the garage rafters, with three notes pinned to his chest and a fourth on the hallway floor.

Nicholas and Hirose have said the drummer was torn between his wife, and their two children, and returning to the UK.

They have recorded their fourth album using former Skunk Anansie drummer Mark Richardson, but no decision has been taken on whether he will become a permanent band member.

Feeder play Reading Festival (23 August), Leeds Festival (24 August), and Gig On The Green (25 August).