Jamie Cullum Quotes
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'm really proud of 'Sad, Sad World' because it manages to state a very complex paradox of an emotion that I experienced when I had children, which is this great happiness and this great intensity, but with that intensity comes a deeper understanding of the world.
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The last time I went to a festival without a hat, two things happened. One: I got sunstroke. Secondly, I had to buy what can only be described as a Jamiroquai hat, which was sartorially incorrect - I'm saying that as a Jamiroquai fan. That was a disaster. I looked like a small clown.
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I was thinking of applying to the 'Guardian' for a job after university. Yeah, I wanted to be one of the people who writes stories in G2.
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Having kids sets a bomb off in your life. It really makes you examine who you are, what you believe in and what you want to be. And that is magical for creativity.
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I believe, from reading biographies, that the great musicians have also been great cooks: Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Max Roach. I think I've worked out why this is - unsociable hours, plus general creativity.
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I never use a piano stool. I always use a drum stool. Because I feel that when you're down there, you're playing in that way you're supposed to. I like to be above it.
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Some musicians like to decorate their walls with discs saying: '1 million records sold in America.' I prefer to put up discs marking sales in lesser-known countries.
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I don't think I've ever been true to jazz. There's always a kind of jazz element to what I do. There are a very few genres that I haven't tried out, really, in what I've been doing. As a jazz musician, you can kind of mess about with things with a certain level of musicianship, which helps.
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In my bachelor days, I had a small upright piano in my kitchen. It cost £10 from eBay plus £70 delivery. It was because I'd seen an old photo of Tom Waits - with dirty dishes, empty bottles, a hot plate, a coffee machine and a piano strewn with lyric sheets - and fallen in love with it.
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I sit around for ages waiting for inspiration. Then when I get an idea, I want to go with it and get something as quickly as possible. It's like catching a fly in a bottle. I'll play with drums for a bit, then the piano for a bit, play the guitar.
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The first suit I enjoyed was a Dior suit that I got given. I've never worn anything that fitted that closely - it was akin to 'Oh my God, I had no idea that a suit didn't have to be this wide.' But I do intend to get one made some day.
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I'm no longer a shoeaholic, but I used to be. I used to spend all my time on tour either buying records or shoes.
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Oh, I was a real Nirvana kid. I got into jazz because I listened to a lot of metal, Megadeth and that, and those guys play really fast and are virtuosos. I wanted to learn more about it, and I discovered that a lot of jazz guys played really fast, too.
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I lived my twenties on the road, in all different countries experiencing this momentum of a career which was taking off in its own way.
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My pure love is playing music.
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I think you realise how terrifying and scary the world is when you're bringing kids into it.
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It's a blessing and a curse when your first big public album does so well. 'Twentysomething' sold four million copies - I think we were hoping to sell 80,000. And it's still selling. In some ways, you'll always be defined by that.
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Don't give tips to friends who are about to have babies unless they ask!
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I never sought out a record deal. It caught me with my pants down. I was just a musician doing my thing, I didn't even send my records out.
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My grandmother on my father's side, a nightclub singer, was a Jewish refugee from Prussia who ended up in Jerusalem, where she met my grandfather - a British army officer. I remember as a child having bowls of chicken soup made by her. There were lots of interesting components, like feet and necks.