If I sang the way I talk it would sound like "Tommy Steele sings Muddy Waters!"

For me, hearing the term 'apply yourself' was like a crucifix to Bella Lugosi's Dracula. 'Ahhh, it burns!'

Leadership is character in action.

I am quite a slow writer. I can only work under pressure; I wait until the last minute.

It's when you are trying to make something that is "authentic" as opposed to real - people who appreciate music for the wrong reasons tend to compartmentalize stuff.

Because I'm English, I try not to make any purely American references, because I want to limit how much I'm pretending to be American.

I'm conscious enough that how I'm singing is not my own accent.