I get up, go and get a coffee, and go do the crossword - I'm loyal to one particular paper, the 'Guardian' - and that's my idea of a perfect morning.

Now that I'm feeling the responsibilities of adulthood, the choices we make become an incredible weight.

There's huge amounts of nonsense that goes with everything surrounding music and art. All the things you have to do promote yourself - there's huge amounts of nonsense.

I definitely tell things at arm's length but that is conscious. No part of me wants everybody to know what's going on.

I've got my laptop, but it troubles me in many ways. I don't have Twitter or Facebook or anything like that. It ruins a romantic idea, which might just be an illusion, a sense of depth or continuity. I know there are lots of positives in the evolution of technology, but I also think it will be responsible for the end of a unique character, of a specific kind of geographical culture. The world is getting so small, and mass production is getting so big. Everything is in danger of becoming the same.

My songs are not pretty. They're what I call optimistic realism.

I think your most intimate thoughts are only honest when they're in your head.