Eliot Sumner

With a band I feel stronger. It's not just me and my weird thoughts. ”

I was somewhat of a mute at school, so people were quite scared! ”

It's not a nice thing to have a song written about you. ”

It's difficult to explain exactly how I react to music, but if it makes me feel anything at all, then I'll have some kind of emotional relationship to it. That's what defines good music to me - if it makes me truly feel something. ”

I knew I wasn't going to write a record as soon as I got signed, because I hadn't had any life experiences. I was still at school, and I wasn't going to write about that. ”

Self-sufficiency is vitally important to my self-respect. I never wanted to rely on my parents in that way, because I knew that if I got used to it, I'd be reliant all my life. ”

I was very young when I did 'I Blame Coco,' and I never really recognized that sound as me. ”

For me, Paul Simon has always been an incredible songwriter, as he writes very complicated songs that sound very simple, and he makes it look so easy when it's not. ”

I like to write from a slightly sad or complicated place. But with a sense of hope and happiness at the same time. ”

I think I have a lot of energy, and most of it is quite aggressive energy. But in a positive way, I think. It's like a positive aggression. ”