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Are you happy with the album?
Damon: 'About A Boy' as an album was like a bonus. I know for a fact that most of those songs wouldn't have been written if I hadn't been asked to do the film. I was happy that it was received so well too as I was expecting more criticism.

Moving on to your performance. Sometimes you get stick for your performance style. People have a go at your stop/start thing, the jokes, the interplay with the audience. What do you think of that?
Damon: It's a been a constant annoyance to be that people pick on one element of what I do live. Stopping, starting, chatting, to me that's the interesting side of it. I'm only being real when I do that, I'm not doing it for affect. Now that people know that I do it I get a laugh without doing anything and that annoys me. I say something on stage or hit the guitar and people will just laugh like I planned all this. There's not much I can do to get away from all this. To me, it makes me as an artist more interesting rather than someone who is just proficient. I'm trying to craft the art of doing a gig to the degree where it's more balanced than it used to be. There's less tomfoolery and more songs. Any given night anything can happen and that's the way I'd rather approach it.

When you perform you seem equally at ease on guitar or piano. Which do you feel more comfortable with?
Damon: It's dependent on the song. I'd say I write most songs on the guitar but on this new album the song 'You or I' was written on the guitar and I adapted to the piano because I knew it would sound good. It really is dependent on the song and dependent on other technical problems, like it's hard to monitor an acoustic guitar on stage and hear your vocal at the same time. I think I'm reaching the point where I'm equally confident on both guitar and piano.

Do you enjoy the acoustic solo sets or the group plugged-in gigs?
Damon: Again, it's just a luxury of a solo show, which I know I can do now, and the option of playing with a band. Playing with a band gives me freedom where they can keep playing and I can wander off and do something. Both things present different challenges. When I played the Meltdown and Glastonbury gigs it was landmark for me because it was the first time in two years that I'd played a solo show of that size and got through it. That was a great moment for me because I felt I'd got to a different level. When you get a solo show to be that special it's better than any show you can do. But when I play with the band I get much more freedom - that's equally special too. They've both got their merits and down sides.

For an industry that is increasingly homogenous, inclusive and inward-looking, you come across as a complete outsider, yet you are still successful. How have you managed that impossible balancing act?
Damon: I'm sure there are a lot more people out there who are of a similar nature. It's hard for me to say what I am because I wake up every day with the same face to examine in the mirror which is not a pretty sight. I think I get a sensibility from a lot of people that they're rooting for me to do well, in a certain way, because they see me perhaps as someone who has overcome hurdles more than other artists have had to. There are a lot of things that have happened in my career that I didn't predict and I'm trying to grow with it and understand it.