Being sent away to boarding school at seven is as great an inspiration as any songwriter could have - to be taken away from one's family and locked away for 10 years. It does create an incredible intensity of emotion.

In a way song writing can almost be detrimental, because suddenly you find an outlet that is a kind of cheating. You don't need to have direct communication. You can say, 'I can't describe it to you, but I will record it and send it to you.'

If the Army helped towards my tuition fees I would then give them four years of my life.

I don't know how to write without thinking what people would want. You don't know whether they want you to be black or white, so you kind of get a gray, something in the middle.

I have friends who were friends of mine before I did music and they are my friends now, and we share life experiences. It's no fun unless you're sharing with people, looking out for them as they are looking out for you.

Absolutely, it's a really weird stage because at the minute, I can walk down the street and be unrecognised, lead a normal life, but my label and everybody is warning me that will be changing and I'm in for a rollercoaster ride.

I always wanted to be a Muppet. So when 'Sesame Street' approached me to guest star, I thought: 'I'm going to be on this!' It's pretty incredible stuff.