My style of lyric-writing is very specific and has a lot of details, and I think people react most to that.

I'm not only a songwriter but I'm a massive music fan and I love going to shows. It's different than reading a book.

There's somewhat of a real fascination with American bands and American mythology in London.

The Catholic influence just comes from being raised Catholic, going to church every Sunday, being confirmed, going to church on holy days. So it's coming from where I am. It serves the purpose of having people who have a base or foundation where they know what's right.

I can still sing most Eagles songs, even though I never bought a record and never liked the band.

It's good to have some kind of California in there. It's almost always appropriate. It's appropriate on a sunny day or late at night. If you grew up on the Grateful Dead, which I certainly did, you listened to 10 million bootlegs. But you realize that American Beauty has some really tight, well-arranged songs that aren't meandering.

A conversation with you is a different thing than projecting to a couple hundred people. It's bigger and more animated and it's on a bigger scope, but still in the heart, it's honestly me.