I like The White Stripes and I like the kinda twang American thing right now.

Music became less understandable in the wake of the new MTV era. You weren't supposed to be anything other than a pop star, to not go deeper than that. It was really strange. It was suffocating, image-wise. What you could talk about in a song changed; if you were misunderstood, you were really misunderstood - taken literally.

When 'Quadrophenia' came out, I turned on to that because of the whole story with it, and there were just some really amazing songs on there. 'Love Reign' being the quintessential song on that record, I think. That was always one of the cornerstones of my temple, that song.

I would be on dates with guys, and the radio would be on, and if the Moody Blues song came on I couldn't concentrate on the guy; I would go straight into the music.

I trained myself by doing other people's songs in clubs way back when. And so I have no pride about doing covers. I love it. And being a song interpreter, to me, is just as important as, you know, putting your own thing out there. It's all about the soul - where the soul comes from.