A lot of my words come to me when I'm out and about as well, riding the bus or sat in the pub. I went through a stage of going to a strip bar called the White Horse at lunch times and did a lot of writing in there. They were fine with that but I don't know how they would feel about me setting up the easel.

Other people's songs can inspire me, though - I always have music on when I'm painting.

I sometimes use music as way of getting back to a certain time, dredging up stuff from the past and putting it down on canvas.

I have no way of knowing what you are going to feel when you look at one of my paintings; I only know what I feel.

To make music I rely on other people, which is good - that's the main difference in painting and music at this stage. They are separate parts of my life really, like having two jobs, one in a bar, one in a lighthouse.

Painting can be like poetry but as somebody who creates both I feel the necessity for both so they cant be that similar. Sometimes I think it's as basic as not wanting to get dirty.

Sometimes I just want to sit and write at a clean table and not get paint all over my hands.