TIM: Well yeah, that was basically what happened. We said, “We’re going to put the album back, take as long as you need, blah blah blah”, and he said, “I really want to get the album out” and was really excited about being revitalised. So that was what we ended up doing. I think looking back at it now, it probably would have been better to stick to the cautious plan. But you’re talking about an enthusiasm for making music and getting music out there that runs through all our veins, and it’s very hard to suppress that.

ANDREW: The only trouble is that in getting the music out, you then have this two year ‘lump’ of promotion and touring that comes after it.

TIM: Yeah, exactly. It’s just an impossible situation, and I don’t know if we’d deal with it any better now. It’s just one of those situations that’s very difficult for anyone to deal with. It’s just human... mess.

ANDREW: So when was the first time that you thought it was a perhaps not the right decision to go ahead - when it came to a head in August, or had things been on the edge for the preceding few months?

TIM: It’s hard to know. I suspect that even if we’d put the album out in September it wouldn’t have made much difference. It’s only my opinion, but I think Tom probably had to go all the way down in order to really address those things. He can tell you more about that than me, but that was my impression looking at it from the outside. I can definitely remember plenty of times before the album came and after the album came out when there were sporadic incidents where he would just go off the rails - it was obvious very quickly that rehab hadn’t made any difference.

The problem is that, once you’ve made the decision to release an album, this massive machine kicks in and you’re booking gigs all over the world for months and months to come. Once you’ve made the decision, you can’t really change your mind without a spectacular slew of cancellations. We held it at bay for quite a long time. It was just a very sad time – it was upsetting for everyone, it was upsetting for Tom and I think he was very frustrated with himself.

I can remember the best example of it was on the day after the album had come out, I remember getting two emails in the space of five minutes. One was from Adam [Keane’s manager] saying that the album was going to be number one - by a factor of 5 or something! - and obviously that was very exciting. Then about five minutes later we all got an email from Tom saying, you know, I’ve been off on one and won’t be able to make it in. We were supposed to do some interview at the BBC with Gideon Coe. So there was this great, great moment but also the terrible moment as well. That basically was the story of three quarters of last year!

I think for anyone who spent any kind of time progressively with us, it would have been obvious that things weren’t right. Or not obvious, but if you were paying attention you could at least feel things weren’t right. It was just a very sad situation, but I’m just very glad that we survived one way or the other.

I've worn myself out
Hoping that we'll always be together...

TIM: I spend most of my life in a stew because I don’t get enough time to write songs. I’m constantly trying to make time to write songs. It’s funny, because I’m always convinced that I haven’t written any songs and get in a big panic and then, when I think about it, I’ll remember bits of songs and suddenly realise that there’s 50 of them rattling around my head that I need to finish. I do write a lot of stuff that pops into my head, and often that’s the catchiest stuff. I don’t know if I’d say it’s categorically the best stuff, but if I’m walking around London and I can remember something without having a tape recorder handy, that’s usually a good sign. I like writing in the morning, and my favourite time to write is definitely late in the evening, which is what I tend to do when I’m at home - just lock myself away and write until the small hours. It’s definitely the most magical time for writing.

CHRIS: I remember you saying that 'Atlantic' came about in an almost ‘dream-like’ state when you were halfway between being awake and asleep. A few boardies said that they could relate to doing creative things then when you’re not quite ‘with it’. Like natural drugs.

TIM: Well, it is. I think it’s something to do with letting go and not really trying, so I guess that relates to your question. I’ll spend ages slaving over a song and not being able to finish a particular part of it, and I’ll be lying in bed – this actually happened last night, in fact – I tried to have an early night and all these different ideas for different songs kept popping into my head, so I was just falling asleep and then thought “Oh, got to get up” - because one thing I’ve learnt is that you won’t remember it in the morning! So I went downstairs, got my Dictaphone out, played something on the guitar, went back to bed... then a few minutes later, I thought of something else! But I love that. There’s nothing like the reward for actually thinking of a bit for a song – it’s definitely worth it.

CHRIS: So is the best stuff more a discovery than an invention?

TIM: That’s definitely my view. The old cliché of it being 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration – it’s completely the opposite. Although, they do dovetail, in that you can get most of a song together by working away at it. I often find that I have to sit around for days writing, just trying to write. Sometimes, I’ll get to the end of the day and I’ll just have written a load of complete shit, but somehow just the process of it gets your brain in the zone. The next thing you know, something good’s just popped out of nowhere. It’s a process that’s just a constant source of stress to me, and I’m always trying to remind myself that I always feel like I’m not writing anything and something good normally crops up. I drive everyone mad with it.

ANDREW: There was a little bit of a debate on the message board saying you “sold out” on the second record by trying to release a more upbeat record, thus compromising your trademark sound.

TIM: I saw one of those threads! It was related to the gig in New York – someone was on a huge rant about how they’d come to see Keane and we’d betrayed the beautiful 'Hopes and Fears' sound. There’s not much you can do about that. I was actually surprised that more people didn’t think that way. A lot of people I speak to seem to prefer the second album which is good. But I don’t know if we’ll ever make another album like that … 'Hopes and Fears' is a very, very accessible record. We’re all very proud of it. It’s not going to put anyone off by being too challenging, sonically. There are people who won’t buy a record because they find any sort of distortion too grating.

I've worn myself out
Hoping that we'll always be together...

TIM: Again, that’s inevitable. That partisan approach to being a music fan is not something I have much time for – it’s idiotic really, but it’s always been the way. I’ll be talking to someone after a gig and they’ll be slagging off some band or genre and thinking that’s something that we’ll really agree on, like “hip-hop is shit” or “Muse are shit” or whatever it is. I just find that bizarre. One of my favourite little thrills of being in a band is when people turn up to our gigs wearing t-shirts that say “Nine Inch Nails” or whoever, or something that seems like you wouldn’t necessarily like both of those bands/acts. I find that attitude very refreshing.

CHRIS: Was that something you had in mind when you started to work with Gwen Stefani and Nicole Scherzinger. No-one can accuse you of being an indie snob now, can they?

TIM: Well, no. I think what really drew me to that was working in a different context completely. The Gwen thing was just one of those crazy ideas. I guess I was flattered that she liked our music, and I do think she’s great and I loved her first record. As it turned out, it was fascinating to work with her in a big studio in LA, writing specifically with someone and seeing how the whole process of making a very, very ‘pop’ record worked. Just having the chance to talk to people like that is a very rare thing ordinarily.

Certainly for me, as a music fan, it’s just great to be able to work with those people. When I was working with Nicole, it was even more like that, because we were working at the Record Plant in LA, which is exciting because it’s a really famous studio and we normally don’t go in for that kind of swanky nonsense with Keane. It’s such a different experience. And Kanye was in the room next door, so he came walking in…

CHRIS: You’re on first name terms with Kanye West…?

TIM: It’s only because I don’t know any other Kanyes, or he’d be ‘Kanye W’! He was producing Common’s album at the time. He was playing some of the tracks at a deafening volume and all these massively hard beats were pumping out, and he’s rapping along, and Common’s sitting at the back playing on his Walkman. That situation is absolutely a different sphere to what we would normally move in. That was a great thrill for me.

ANDREW: Did you feel like you fitted in?

TIM: Well, sort of! It’s very fast talking… All the things people say about Hollywood are very true. I found Kanye to be very amiable, very nice and very musical, and he was extremely enthusiastic about our music. Richard had met him before and he’d said a lot of good things about us and the second record in the press, so I had a bit of a heads up at least that he didn’t think we were shit. I do still find it intimidating meeting people that I really idolise, definitely. The worst one was when I met the Pet Shop Boys for the first time. I was so nervous, and I just dribbled on at them – it was just awful. I met them again recently and they were very nice.

ANDREW: Did they remember the first time?

TIM: It was bizarre actually – I went to their gig at Hammersmith a few weeks ago and went backstage, and the first thing Neil said was “Oh hello, it’s nice to see you!. Have you met Kylie Minogue?”, which I thought was great! If you’d asked me in 1989 if I ever thought I’d be being introduced to Kylie by Neil Tennant, that would have seemed like the stuff of... um... weird dreams. (pause) We won’t go there!

I've worn myself out
Hoping that we'll always be together...