THE MUSIC
Most of my ideas for songs come from books and film. I just warp them into something that fits my way of thinking. Actually it can be less of an idea and more a mood that I will get hooked on and try to bring out. I'm definitely music first lyrics second. I rely on the feeling of the music to conjure up the imagery and from there I can start shaping a story. Sometimes I just write for the sake of it, as it's just good to keep up the discipline. In these cases I'll play guitar and just half sing or mumble something onto a recorder. More often than not there'll be an audible word or phrase that will lead me somewhere interesting. I can get good results with this technique.
THE BUSINESS
I stumbled into a job at amplifier.co.nz in 2005 and it's allowed me to get some knowledge about the industry and the contacts that come along with being a music retailer. Pretty invaluable stuff. So I don't feel like the "job" has been intruding on my role as a songwriter and musician. It's always been my aim to live off the music, but I'm not terribly ambitious, so unless I can get motivated enough to risk something, I'm probably just gonna find myself waking up in a lakeside shack with macaroni in my socks and a cat on my Guinness belly, wondering what the f*$k happened to all my royalties...