It is a process of discovery. It's being quiet enough and undisturbed enough for a period of time so that the songs can begin to sort of peek out, and you begin to have emotional experiences in a musical way.

It's the nature of human consciousness to look for trouble constantly, and we find it. We find it.

I don't find the songs; they find me. I just strum my guitar and wait for a lyric to come.

When I cleaned up some 17 odd years ago, I felt terrible for about six months. The only thing that gave me any real relief was strenuous physical activity.

The Beatles were a phenomenon, but they were also ordinary blokes like anyone else. I was lucky enough to see that side.

There'll come a writing phase where you have to defend the time, unplug the phone and put in the hours to get it done.

Maybe my biggest aim is to bring a sense of that old mystery of rock 'n' roll into the new age of today's instantaneous and fast world.