You get to a certain age and you just want to prove that you can still rock - that you've still got it.

As a shy kid growing up in Sheffield, I fantasized about how it would be great to be famous so I wouldn't actually have to talk to people and feel awkward. And of course, as we all know from fairy stories, when you achieve that ambition, you find out you don't want it.

If you get involved in music expecting to make a living out of it, then you've picked the wrong thing to do. That shouldn't really be in your mind.

Being chronically shy I needed to create a persona for myself and be involved with a band where I could be ruler of my own kingdom. Then Pulp became hugely popular and I lost control of it, which is when it all went wrong.

You get to a certain age and you just want to prove that you can still rock - that you've still got it.

[Jeffrey Lewis is] The best lyricist working in the US today.

In a song you can kind of stage-manage everything so that it puts you in a good light. And once a song is recorded, it always performs well.