You are the sum of your influences when you start a band – you have to start somewhere. So the music you listened to when you started will influence the way you approach making music yourself initially. Inevitably you develop your own voice over time and become more confident in your own ability to create something, and I think that’s all we ever did. From then on, all we’ve ever tried to do is write better songs than the last batch of songs we did. I suppose that’s what most songwriters do? I love David Bowie, and from time to time he’d have a specific theme for his album and hire a whole new set of musicians, which is great. His music was amazing. Whereas we can’t really do that because of the way the band’s set up. In the main there’s been three of us writing the songs. We’ve always shared the writing duties, that’s how our group of people work. Every group has a different dynamic but that works for us and has done over the years.

[Norman Blake/Teenage Fanclub – til Drowned in Sound]