A lot of the early songs I wrote were about the experience of going to London and meeting rent boys and transvestites and drag queens. A lot of my early material is that: the wide-eyed adventures of a middle-class boy.

Frank Sinatra said this great thing, that singing isn't about singing in tune, or great technical singing. It's about making people believe in the story you're telling.

My next record I really just want it to be a collection of great songs, classic songs in a way.

For me it always comes down to what is a good song and I'm very old fashioned in the way that I like to make songs that have something classic about them whether you can play them with an orchestra or an electro synthesizer or an acoustic guitar.

There's no such thing as 'I can't do it'.

I don't really have anything against Will Young or Gareth Gates.

Russians have a new freedom, but as long as they don't express that freedom on a public platform.