Jamie Hince

I love when a song is conceived as a jigsaw puzzle in the studio, and then it's a natural to play live. That's my gauge of success for a song.

I love all board games, actually, apart from backgammon. I can never remember the rules.

Generally, my life is absolute chaos, but when I'm writing songs, it's very thought out and regimented.

I've started to fall for New Orleans recently. There's real life there, if you know what I mean.

There are plenty of cities that have given me the time of my life for a week or two - including Sao Paulo, Paris, and New York - but London has an enduring appeal that keeps on unfolding.

I used to take 'Visions of Cody' by Jack Kerouac on tour all the time. I don't really love Kerouac, but that book, you could just open at any page and find something incredible for that day.

I admire a lot of photographers, but I feel very disconnected from them at the same time. I don't feel I employ any technique like these people in my work. I guess if there's any influence from any of these photographers, it's this: They were concerned only with beauty. Not with 'cool.' I hope I'm doing the same.

Photography is a big part of my life: taking photographs, being around photographers.

Did groupies ever interest me? No. I'm a pleasure seeker, and I like going bananas, but that's never appealed to me. I always thought it was a little bit naff.

One of the things I discovered about myself is I'm just really positive.

I try not to be too realistic. It's better to be over-positive.

I do believe in ghosts, but I haven't seen one. I can imagine that you cross over to the other side, some different dimension or whatever, but how do your clothes get there? Ghosts are always wearing clothes.