Words fail me when it comes to this sort of thing. It seems easier to write lyrics than it does to talk about why I do what I do - or even how I do it.

I have written about a hundred or so songs and people ask me where I get my ideas from. Music is the most comfortable medium for me, the area in which I find myself most comfortable and fluent. I play music because I couldn't do anything else and it's as much home to me, mentally and spiritually, as water is to a fish.

Influences come from all over: I was classically trained as a pianist and violinist, so a lot of that stuff seeped in from a very early age. I only took up the violin because my hands were originally too small to hold a guitar properly.

Later and more obvious influences include the likes of Neil Young, Paul Simon and Bombay Bicycle Club. Sometimes I write something and I don't know where it came from - like the moment when a character in a novel surprises its own author.

Musically my style is evolving, more electric than acoustic these days. But sometimes it's good to go back and revisit old material - like calling in on old friends and remembering why you always got along.