Writing musical hooks

“Most of the time I’m consciously trying to do it and it doesn’t work out. You’re thinking about it too much, and the flow isn’t there. I always try to be catchy. I think my tunes are catchy, they stick in my head. They’re obviously not everybody’s definition of what a good tune is.”

On singing

“In previous bands I was pretty much told to shut up, even though I wrote most of the songs. Not a good singer, but I think I’ve slowly gotten better over the years. But it’s hard for non-singers these days, because “knock-it-out-of-the-park vocal performances have become the dominant idiom, with an accompanying homogeneity of style.”

International markets

“Being an older artist disadvantages you in many ways. Firstly, nobody's interested because you're way past your use-by date. Secondly, having to support a family and be a Dad makes it very difficult to leave the country for any length of time. Thirdly, your low tolerance for music industry-related bullshit makes you an unlikely candidate for artist development and financial investment. On top of all that, what I make sits way outside the mainstream or any kind of saleable genre - Can't dance, can't sing, don't look good…I'm like a sort of inverse triple threat.”