Ive always been very visceral in that I feel things very deeply.

I'm probably much more influenced by film-makers and painters than I am by other songwriters or poets.

When I was young, I had idols that I thought were wonderful. I wanted to be just like them.

I don't like things to be handed to me on a plate; that means nothing. I like to go through layers of unraveling and every time I listen to something, it makes me feel something different. Now I'm aware of the conflict that's going on, but at the time I just let what was happening happen.

I'm always writing, the past 10 years. A lot has changed, in that it's something I do every day.

I think that's always very valuable: to keep the mind open to receiving all sorts of information, which can then be used in my work, but also just as a human being.

I think of myself as a songwriter, a weaver of story and imagination in a way that a novelist might write a book.