My first instinct when I write songs is not a negative one. It's something positive... Everything I've ever done has some form of hope in it, I think.

Great music is in the ear of the beholder.

There's no new direction. It's not more poppy or more rocky. They're just rock'n'roll tunes. I'll never change the music I write.

Rock stardom will die because nobody will make enough money any more to be rock stars.

If everyone in the music business were brutally honest about what their intentions were then you could sort things out, but it's all smoke and mirrors.

I go into Daunt Books in Marylebone every couple of weeks. My wife Sara demolishes books, but I only buy stuff occasionally. I like boys' things, spies and the Cold War.

I'm a little bit of a control freak when it comes to my music, unfortunately.