So is there anything surprising in your music collection?
I don't think so. I've always been a fairly safe artist — I've been an unsafe individual but a very safe artist.

Is it a case of giving people what they want?
It's actually much easier than that, it's being the people that you sing to, so we do like the same kind of music. I suppose I like extra music they won't appreciate but I don't get tired of listening to Neil Diamond or Bob Dylan or Kristofferson or the folky guys, the Roger Whittakers. I still listen to Pussycat which was country music, but I've got to make space between that for my more modern rock bands like Alterbridge and some of the more people that I like.

Is it more rewarding writing and recording your own songs or seeing people react to things that they know and love?
To be honest, to be the creative artist is the ultimate calling out there. You dream up a song, it's a verse the one day, tomorrow I finish it, a year later it's on a CD, the year after the whole country is singing it. There's probably nothing more gratifying than that.

You've been doing this for 21 years. How do you keep it going?
Firstly I do it for my enemies because I have plans to outlive them. Secondly of course I want to keep it exciting. You don't always get that right with CDs but you do it with live performances.

And you can't be harmed by outsiders, you can't be taken down by media — you have a wonderful and exciting dynamic contract or relationship with your market and the people who come to your shows. So you don't reach them through the media but you physically work — you drive to their halls and civic centres and you do the shows there. You do it for 21 years, you become part of the furniture.

I think I can release anything at this stage and it will work. So I am extremely happy that people are there but then I do promise that I will take care of them live.

And is that — live performance — where you can take refuge?
I'm long past the stage where I just enjoy it — it's become like a drug. It's also a validation of all the things you thought you were right on. When the curtains open there are a thousand people and you know they paid a lot of money and they drove very far to be there — that happens every night of my life. I don't know what would happen to me if that gets taken away, so I guess I'm a bit of a slave to that. It's a wonderful place to be.

I don't want to count as anything else in this country but the person who stands on stage and performs and makes you forget about an hour and a half in your life. The other things are side shows. I love the culture, I love fighting the politics, I love being critical of my government and sceptical about things like theology for instance.

I'll still be that person but ultimately my original contract with you is: 'I sing it, if you like it you can listen'.