You are what you can prove you've done. That's how people judge you.
I feel increasingly like age is very irrelevant. Quite often, cynicism is confused with wisdom, and my scorn is confused with a knowing, which I don't have.
I've noticed that, with many of the authors I like, I tend to think I would dislike them as human beings or that there'd be a healthy amount of debate if I ever did meet them.
I'd like to make music for as long as I can; it feels like something I need to do.
I'd prefer to be good, but I'm not always. I struggle.
My reaction to everything in life is when it gets a bit complicated to water it down and make it simple again.
I'm a songwriter, and I understand artistic licence. We can embellish, go on little journeys and explore our inner selves. It can be quite self-indulgent.
I am slightly fascinated by the question of whether humanity is capable of change. I may have come to the conclusion that we're not, but we keep trying.
My songs are not pretty. They're what I call optimistic realism.
I love the way you can fall in love with a piece of literature; how words alone can get your heart doing that.
People don't appreciate music any more. They don't adore it. They don't buy vinyl and just love it. They love their laptops like their best friend, but they don't love a record for its sound quality and its artwork.
When a song wants to be written, it will be written.
I'm incredibly neurotic and a control freak. I like the thought that if there's going to be anyone to blame it's going to be me.
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.
I think your most intimate thoughts are only honest when they're in your head.
When I'm singing I feel like I'm talking to someone. I'm in conversation when I perform - either with myself or with whomever is listening.
All my songs come from me because I only seem able to write about myself and my experiences.
I'm not religious, I'm not romantic and I live purely by logic. I make every decision by logic and sometimes that leads me to the right and sometimes to the wrong decision.
The romanticised life, where all the great poetry and music and art of the world comes from, is great but it requires a lot of self-indulgence.
I've always loved books by the Bronte sisters. I love Jane Austen, too. I'm more influenced by people like her than by pop culture.
