Hendrix was the first person I had come across who seemed completely free, and when you're nine or 10, your life is entirely dominated by adults. So he represented this thing that I wanted to be. Hendrix was the first person who made me think it might be good to be a singer and a guitarist - before that I wanted to be a footballer.

I look thuggish when I shave my head and wear big boots. I walk into a newsagent and people think I'm going to jump the counter.

I could write songs as bad as Wham's if I really felt the urge to, but what's the point?

Perhaps not as badly applied and not as obvious, but for thousands of years, people have worn makeup on stage.

I lose myself in music because I can't be bothered explaining what I feel to anyone else around me.

True repentance has a double aspect. It looks upon things past with a weeping eye, and upon the future with a watchful eye.

When we started I wasn't the singer. I was the drunk rhythm guitarist who wrote all these weird songs.