I'm in a difficult position in the sense that, preposterous as this might sound, I don't like being the centre of attention. I get up on stage every night and play songs, but I almost feel the songs are the centre of attention. I don't like opening m...
I still very much appreciate the storytelling of the best rappers.
The first time I went to New York, it was really exciting, and I thought, given half the chance, it would be nice to live there - the same with London.
I'm not even sure where home is. Probably Terminal 5. There is a strange sense of calm about arriving back at Heathrow.
I can't draw. I'm good on the yo-yo, but I don't draw.
Someone asked me what the key to being a good frontman was, and I think having a sense of humor about it is pretty near the top of that list. It's a very strange place to be in, and I don't take that role too seriously.
I think New York is a good place to write in general because it's a grid. It's organized. You know where you are on the map. That centers you, and your imagination is perhaps freer to roam.
I like The Four Freshmen, anything with good harmonies, some Beach Boys. I like the girl groups as well, like The Dixie Cups and all that.
Every time you write a song, you're looking for some sort of perfection, and you never quite reach it. You're always looking for that extra missing piece.
I am a romantic fool, no doubt about that.
'Hatful of Hollow' and 'The Smiths' were lent to me, and they made me want to create music that might make another person feel like they made me feel - to have an effect on someone.
Guitar music or rock n' roll or whatever you want to call it sort of goes away with trends, but it'll never go away completely. It can't die because it's so fundamentally attractive.
There's something to be said for writing in the morning. At other points in the day, you're a bit more defensive.
The idea that talent is directly proportional to your trophy cabinet is one I oppose.
Sometimes I don't want to be in the confines of what a band seems to provide.
I can be a woodsman if need be. I grew up very close to some forest, and I spent a lot of my formative years up and down trees, fooling around in the woods. I'm no stranger to that sort of landscape.
Rock n' roll seems like it's faded away sometimes, but it will never die.
I'm not really one for collaborations, to be quite honest.
If anyone asks me about songwriting, I guess I'd say that you just gotta do it.
There's something about a Gucci loafer kicking on a fuzz pedal.
