When you're touring with just an acoustic guitar and your songs, do you think the a true strength of a song writer is measured up on stage in that exposed manner?

Maybe but I always found it harder in the studio as in a live setting there is an atmosphere to feed off and a good crowd to fuel your music. In the studio, you have to think about all the little touches and there is no audience to fuel you on, so I think for the studio is maybe more exposed. I love both though, performing and recording.

How did it come about that you play the banjo?

I don't actually play the Banjo... but I wouldn't mind learning! It is a very skilled instrument and when played well I think is great. We actually had one on one of our tracks in Travis and it was really cool, worked very well.

Is this album a sign of things to come and will there be more solo albums in the future?

I love working both solo and with the band so I hope that there will be more of both to come, I haven't stopped writing songs, there are more in me yet!

What has your involvement in Travis meant both musically and personal to you?

Well, Travis really shaped my life... I was writing songs since I can remember so to have the opportunity to do something I love as a job is amazing. Not only that, but it was also my personal life as well as my work life and I the guys in the band are my best friends. I learn a lot from the band and it gives me a lot of happiness and has done throughout my life.

You're involved with Warchild, why was it so important for you to do so?

I had never been involved with Warchild before the busking as I had always been more involved with Save The Children or other charities, but they contacted me with this idea and I thought it was brilliant. I think it is really important to support children - it sounds cheesy but they are our future and when I look at how little they have I find it really horrible for me. It upsets me to see that poverty for kids.

X - Factor - love or loathe?

I've never seen the show. when my daughter was born we made the decision to throw away our television and you know what?? I don't miss it at all. I think the show has a place though, it seems to entertain a lot of people and there will always be a need for a talent show.

Do you think you would have been successful on X factor?

No haha! I think the show is designed to give opportunities for a certain type of artist and  the band would never have been that artist. Bands don't seem to do so well on these programmes.

How has the digital revolution affected you as a musician?

Hugely, massively in fact. It has changed the way we listen to music, think about music and hear about music. I think it is a shame that people rarely listen to albums anymore, iTunes lets people download single tracks from an album so people only seem to be interested in the singles which is a shame. I would love to get people buying full albums again and I think we could bash through ideas of how to do that for hours and hours and never really know if we have  found a worthwhile solution. On the flipside, everything is so instant now. I love doing my blog and I think the way everyone has a blog is brilliant, everyone is keeping a diary.

 

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