I have a particular style of writing and my voice sounds a particular way, which lends itself to a certain style.

I know my sound, and I have to be true to who I am as an artist, even though I want be real cool, and make really cool music.

I've always recognised that I have influence, whether I like it or not, and that I can use it to do something good.

I began dabbling in writing when I was 12, and there was never an official start to singing... I just sang my songs because there was no one else to sing them and no one told me to shut up!

I had received some minor indie label interest when I was 14 after I was in a schools music competition thing in NZ called 'Rockquest', but I knew it wasn't the right time and that I wasn't good enough and needed to concentrate on school.

People aren't problems to be fixed. People are people, for us to walk alongside and journey with and help pick up the pieces with and, when they drop them again, to get back down and help them pick them up again. And that's real love - without condition and without expectation.

I often think that eventually I'd love to do some papers... my correspondence if life calms down a bit, but I think I'd do history or English literature... I've had enough of journos.

I'm not quite sure where the sponsorship rumour came from... probably because I have been a spokesperson for child sponsorship so people just assumed that was the connection.

Obviously, it was a big life change for me and quite a shock to suddenly have these songs I'd written in my bedroom as a far-too-intense teenager all over the airwaves and see my face on buses, especially in a small country like New Zealand, but at the same time it was such a thrill and an honour knowing that my music was reaching people.

I'm a bit of a book worm, so a lot of the songs I write are inspired by books.

The writing and making of each of my albums has been such a different beast each time, so I'm interested in seeing what kind of animal the fourth one turns out to be!

I learnt that music cost something, and that's a good thing. Also, that I should exercise, because I didn't and I got very sick.

I had a pretty regular childhood, with a rad mum who taught me to love reading and thinking and laughing, and (as far as I was concerned) a regular dad who drove trucks for a living and did radio interviews on weekends and got stopped in the street a lot when we went out.

Those who have had the most impact and influence throughout history and certainly the people who've had the most impact and influence on me personally have been basically entirely unaware of any such influence and made their chief concern their personal devotion and obedience, and the pleasure of God in the hidden things of their lives.

Now that I have seen I am responsible, faith without deeds is dead.

At sixteen I was like: I need to get an album out now! - even though I was only sixteen. I was always in a little bit of a rush to be an adult.

The music that I make isn't really like any of the music that I listen to. I think I listen to cool music, but I know that I don't make cool music - so it's kind of funny!

You can analyze all you want but you can never explain away the God factor. Sometimes God just decides to breathe on something and it's completely His prerogative.