My first Top of the Pops I didn't want to do. I was terrified. I'd never done television before. Seeing the video afterwards was like watching myself die.

As an artist, you're never happy with anything you do. It's part of the process.

What I've tended to do is to use my own experiences to get into someone else's mind, like in Wuthering Heights.

I'm quite a private person and I like my work to do the talking.

I suppose in some ways doing some of the songs in the show felt a bit like I was doing cover versions. I was covering myself. Not that they didn't feel like my songs, but the way I was approaching them was from a place so outside where they were written. The fact that these songs were in the context of a live show was a new thing.

Even just making albums - which was more within the structure that I've worked in for years - you have no idea how people will respond. You don't know if it'll be any good whatsoever. It can be terrifying.

Im the shyest megalomaniac youre ever likely to meet.