I went to a commune with my parents when I was a kid and everyone else got given cool spirit animals like tigers and panthers. I got a mouse.

When I was young I wanted to make films and then I got into folk music when I was about 12, and started going to this folk club in Auckland. My dad [Barry Andrews] was in punk and post-punk bands, so I guess it was a side of music I hadn't really listened to before - the really narrative form of songwriting.

I think everything obviously comes from experience of some kind. It's more about if you closely adhere to that experience or if you extrapolate from it.