More of your Ask Keane questions answered.

Here are the latest responses to the questions that you folks have been sending in via the Ask Keane section of the Ezine. So without further ado, over to Mr Rice-Oxley…

“What’s your favourite football team? Have you ever watched a match live at the stadium?”
Vinta
Tim replies: I’m not an especially partisan football supporter. I love playing soccer, even though I’m not very good. I also love watching it on TV, and my policy is to support the underdog. The only match I’ve ever been to was the World Cup Final this year! Although I’m also going to Wolves v West Brom in a couple of weeks.

“Tim – What’s it like being a thinking, contemplative individual such as yourself? Do ya get annoyed when other people deem you as simply “brooding” and “depressed” all the time?”
Jennifer Arellano
Tim replies: I think anyone who likes spilling their guts into a song and then playing to millions of people has to have something slightly weird going on in their brain! All creative people experience slightly exaggerated ups and downs I think, and I’m definitely guilty of that. But most of the time I’m pretty normal and chilled, and anyone that knows me knows that I spend as much time having fun as I do locked in a room brooding over the state of the world! So yes, I find it frustrating when people occasionally peg me as overly serious or whatever, but I fear I probably bring it on myself!

“Tim – is there a particular time of day when you find it easiest to write and do you have a favourite place which really gets your creative juices flowing?”
Annabelle Tipper
Tim replies: Definitely. Early in the morning and late in the evening. The hours between about 1pm and 6pm should simply be banned, in my opinion. When I was working in an office I used to hate the afternoon – Tom and I worked in the same place and we used to joke that at 3pm the clock started slowing down. And I find it hard to be creative in the afternoon too. I have no idea why. The most exciting times for me are when it gets late in the evening and you don’t feel tired or notice the time passing because you’ve got a really great idea going and there’s a magical atmosphere in the room and you just want to work and work until you’ve conquered the world.
As for locations, I just find that going somewhere new almost always yields results. When I sit at a piano in a strange town or a different studio, it feels like I’ve never played music before or written a song before, and that can be very liberating and inspiring somehow. If I had to choose one place that I find inspiring it would be New York I think, although Germany has been good in the past too!

“Is there any slightly different , perhaps historical location you’d like to play? e.g Battle Abbey”
Barbara
Tim replies: I’d like to do a tour of ancient amphitheatres, although I think it has been done before by people like Pink Floyd and Radiohead. But I studied Greek and Latin at university so I think I’d feel some kind of connection.

“Where do you keep your awards?  For example, your two Brits? Do you rotate them among the 3 of you, do you keep it in one place or do you arm wrestle to decide who gets to keep it?”
Megan Kim
Tim replies: We try to divide them equally. I’m not that fussed about them generally. I think I’ve got one Brit and one Ivor Novello. And the GQ thing from a couple of weeks ago. The Ivor Novello is the one I’m most proud of. It’s pretty chunky so I use it as a doorstop at home.

“Have you thought to make some songs in Spanish?”
Jorge David Palavicini Rodriguez
Tim replies: I’ve always liked the idea of doing some songs in a different language, but I fear I’d run the risk of writing simplistic crap because of my limited vocabulary! Actually I don’t speak any Spanish, but Tom does so maybe we’ll give it a go. To be honest I’d most like to write a song in French, just because it’s such a romantic language and I love people like Yann Tiersen and Frehel.

“What’s the best thing you’ve ever got for free?”
Nicola Palmer
Tim replies: At the Brits we got a ridiculously posh goodie bag. I got some nice sunglasses that I still wear, and a great watch. But the best items were surely the spanking paddle, blindfold and nipple plumping cream from Coco de Mer. I’m sorry to say that I ended up giving mine away to be auctioned for charity.

“Do you wanna be my boyfriend? This is a question for all of Keane”
Lizzy
Tim replies: Does it have to be all of us at the same time, or can we work out some sort of rota?