I've seen John Lennon interviews and Kurt Cobain interviews but I've never seen a Beethoven interview

What's your idea of perfect happiness?

Just being comfortable with yourself. I think that anyone who's unhappy is probably not very comfortable with themselves. That's why most people find contentment in middle age. They don't worry anymore about image or how people see them. I have phobias, really bad anxiety problems. I have to take medication whenever I'm going to be in large groups of people. I can sing in front of 50,000 people but as soon as I'm among them I freak out. I'm really claustrophobic as well. I've been caught in six lifts in my life. One time I was in there for 3 hours by myself and it was totally dark and I was just sitting in the corner pressing the alarm button. I was freaking out and sweating. And then I heard this tapping on the roof, and it was like, Thank fuck, about fucking time!

You spend a lot of time barefoot. Why?

It's more natural, it's a good feeling. If I'm just hanging out with friends and wandering around I don't wear shoes at all but if I'm going to a club I will.

What was the last book you read?

'Everything In This Book Is A Lie But It's Exactly How Things Are'. It's pretty spiritual book about links to aliens and it's really amazing, full of great theories. And I bought a book today about government conspiracies which has a chapter on why they won't legalise cannabis. It's because the cotton industry pays them not to.

What's your favourite film?

'Leaving Las Vegas' is really moving. I like the darkness, it's a really unorthodox way of presenting the film. I like dark things to have an undercurrent of sarcasm and irony, so it's great.

What was the last dream you had?

I was running through a field and all of these people were throwing knives at each other and I was trying to escape and fell into a huge pit. All the blood from the people started flowing into the pit and I was drowning. It was fucking scary. It's possibly linked to my anxiety attacks. I think everything in the subconscious part of the brain has links to things like phobias.

If you could travel back in time where would you go?

I'd go back to Egypt, really fucking early to find out if there were aliens there. I wish there'd been a hidden camera when they built the pyramids because they're just too precise to have been built by men at that time.

Why are you a vegetarian?

I'm actually a vegan, although I love the smell of chicken. When I was 16 I because a vegetarian and six months later I did the full thing and became a vegan. It's not as hard as you'd think 'cos I have simple tastes, just fruit and vegetable and cereal. I take protein tablets to keep me healthy so I very rarely get sick. I don't drink alcohol either because of a stomach ulcer, but I'm definitely not straight-edge. I mean, I'll take certain stimulants if you know what I mean, when I'm at parties but nothing too out of control. A lot of people get drugs and drug addicts mixed up. I'm not hugely into drugs, but it's good to experiment now and again.

If you could spend one hour with either John Lennon, Kurt Cobain or Beethoven who would you choose?

Beethoven. I've seen John Lennon interviews and Kurt Cobain interviews but I've never seen a Beethoven interview.

Daniel Johns

Interview with William Luff 1-6-99