Music is escapism from the grim realities of life. But then as soon as you escape into the music, from my point of view, I found I had to deal with the very things that I thought I was running away from. I wanted to hit those problems on the head and resolve them. So they didn't remain as issues in my psyche.

Books are like my one and only joy.

I was brought up and raised in Britain as a Labour man, and that quickly changed. And I find there are more working-class people in the Conservative Party than the Labour party.

My biggest fear is mindlessly and stupidly repeating myself.

I love pop music. It's not easy to write a good pop song.

Art should be life. It's an imitation of life. It should have some humanity in it.

Love is what you feel for a dog or a pussycat. It doesn't apply to humans.