Q: Julian, the very first song on Photograph Smile, "Day After Day," begins with the lines "I have walked through the fire as an ordinary man and if I die, I'll die in peace, part of all that God has planned." Do you really feel as if you've walked through fire in your life and that now you're finally at peace?

A: Well, I would have to say that, on my behalf, I've felt very much -- or as close to as possible of being a normal man. You know, I felt that whatever has happened to me has mainly come from, you know, other people around me, whether it's the media -- mostly the media -- that have created the shadow of dad, you know, around me. But from my point of view, I've always approached life on the most grounded level possible, you know. And just try to be as honest and as truthful and as natural as possible. And to just do the best job I can at what I do, you know. That's it. And yes, there certainly has been some fires to be -- that I've had to walk through and put out, yeah.

Q: But just listening to you answer that question, you sound at peace at this point. You took a seven-year break from music before you released "Photograph Smile". Why did you take such a long break?

A: Well, number one, I was so frustrated with the business. I personally dislike the music industry and business completely and utterly. And most of the people -- well, I can't say most of the people in it. I mean, there are some good souls in there that really do love music. But it certainly is, from my standpoint, a machine these days. It's not about the music or the creative aspect of it anymore. It's all about, you know, how many -- how much one can sell and how much money has to come in the bank to make sure that this happens and that happens. And, you know, it is part and parcel of it all. But unfortunately, I think it's taken over too much from the creative aspect.

And I --it was time for me to get out after I felt that there was such a lack of support from the people I was working with, whether it was the labels, whether it was some production degrees -- sorry, some production to a certain degree and mainly, the lack of support and the lack of understanding. And I felt very disrespected within the industry and within the business. I felt people, certainly, did not take me as a serious artist and as a writer. And music, to me, has always been an art form and a craft and I've always taken it very seriously. Unfortunately, due to my association with certain people in the past, it was not always seen in that light.

And so I truly felt it was necessary to get away from all of that. And after the last album and with "Saltwater" -- the last album "Help Yourself" with "Saltwater," basically being No.1 in top 10 worldwide except for America. And it was mostly the American label I had the trouble with. I just felt so frustrated. And I said, you know, this has been years and years of the same old, same old. And the people I'm working with just aren't getting it, you know. And so it took me five years to get out of the contracts, basically.

Q: What I don't understand is, if these record company people were so anxious to exploit you and make a bunch of money, wouldn't have been in their best interest to make "Saltwater" a big hit in America?

A: Yes, it would. It would have been in their interest to make "Saltwater" a big hit. But I honestly don't know what the problem was. You know, there are a lot of things that go on, a lot of discussions that go on that we don't know about, you know, from the Board of Directors to this person to that person. And it's very difficult to find out the truth.

Q: After 1991's "HelpYourself," which was the album with "Saltwater," did you move from Los Angeles at that point?

A: Yes, I was actually living a numb life in Los Angeles. Very unmotivated, every day being a nice day. The last thing you want to do is sit inside a studio and write a work, you know, when everybody's going to the beach or doing something else in life. And so it was-- actually, the reason I went back to Europe was to see the premiere of a film called "Backbeat," which was about the Beatles, the early days, which I enjoyed a great deal. And a friend of mine said, "Listen, while you're here, why don't you come down to the south of France and watch the Grand Prix in Monaco?" And I said, "Well, you know, I've got to get back to LA and do nothing." You know, it was that mind state that I was in. And I'd lost all sort of-- what do you call it when it's very spur-of-the-moment, when you just do things on the spur of the moment. Anyway, I'd always enjoyed that part of my life, just the getting on a plane and disappearing or doing something that was slightly wacky. And I had lost that. I felt I'd lost a lot of things by sitting round, doing what I was doing in LA, which was basically nothing, you know.

And coming back to Europe gave me an -- absolutely gave me a brand new lease of life, which has turned things around a great deal and has inspired me to not only continue with music, but many other artistic and creative ventures that I want to follow, such as, you know-- well, I've always been a fan of cooking. I've been -- you know, that was my first choice before music, before acting was cooking. So I've always loved to cook and photography and painting and sculpting, anything creative that I could do. So it's opened up that freedom of expression in my life again, which has been such a joy. And to be in the position that I'm in, which is free, basically. Because I felt for ten years that I was locked down to a certain degree, you know. I felt that I had to owe people something. And at this point in life, I definitely feel that I don't.

Q: And do you feel like your interests are so varied that if you tired of the music world again, you might just go back to cooking or sculpting or whatever?

A: Well, you see -- I mean, one thing I realized I always tend to do a lot of cooking. I mean, I cook every day, if I have the chance. And more often than not, when I'm staying at friends' houses, there's a group of people, like if it's a summerhouse in the south of France. And so I would, by choice, get up and make breakfast for, you know, five, ten, 20 people sometimes and lunch and dinner. And I just felt that, you know, there was -- someone was talking to me about the fact that, well, you know, because your career is in music, you can't be successful in cooking, something along those lines. And I said you've got to be kidding. I said, you know, depending on how many times a day people eat, I can have three to five hits a day. But in my -- which is true, absolutely true. Without the pressures and the bull, you know.

And I just feel that in the position that I'm in now, which is -- which definitely feels like I'm in control, not only on a personal, but professional level in my life, you know, there aren't the pressures that there used to be, the demanding pressures, on the songwriting front. These days I can actually sit down and write a song out of pleasure, out of the joy and experience and the art and craft of writing a song, rather than how it used to be, how I felt it used to be, at least, which was by the clock. You know, with people looking over my shoulder, you know, knocking on the door to either say, well, it's not up-tempo enough or it's not commercial enough. And I felt before it was very much a mix of trying to please everybody else, but trying to please myself at the same time, whereas now, it's all about doing the work the way I feel it should be done.

Q: Well, what time are we coming over for breakfast tomorrow and what are you cooking, that's what I want to know?

A: Well, if I wasn't staying in a hotel, there wouldn't be a problem with that.

Q: Okay. What's the difference for you being your own boss, rather than being with a big record company -- you just already answered that, so I --

A: Yeah, to a certain degree. Well, I mean, it's control. It's actually being the yes-no man at the top. It's -- I always feel that the best way to move forward is by natural and gut instincts. If it feels right, then move with it. And because I felt I didn't have enough courage or strength in the past, you know, with the people I was working with, I found that very difficult to maintain that and strive for that. But these days, it really is. You know if I make a decision, the results show themselves. And these days, again, it's being able to wake up and look in the mirror in the morning and know at least that I haven't stabbed myself in the back or lied to myself or cheated on myself, you know, because I believe in what I'm doing wholeheartedly. So I follow it through as best I can.

Q: You made "Day After Day" the first single from "Photograph Smile." It was available on the Internet before it was released. Does the Internet make being an independent artist more feasible?

A: I definitely think so, yeah. I still think it's early days, to a certain degree. But I don't think it's too long in the waiting before the quality of music on the Internet is going to go way up, you know. I mean, it's pretty much there already. But just the accessibility and the ease, I think, is going to improve a great deal over the next year or two, the coming years. Yeah, I think -- I mean, I'm very happy about it because, you know, as long as -- again, people, if they're dealing with the Internet and putting music out on the Internet, have to be wary, of course, of, you know, how that -- how that music goes out and the security level on that. Because obviously, the one main concern about the Internet is the bootlegging, which is very scary, unless you've got a serious security lockdown on sending your product out.

Q: Is it different of Julian Lennon being an independent artist because you may have the financial ability to promote yourself more than some other indie artists?

A: Well, I mean, I'm fortunate in many respects in being able to, you know, put an indie label together, like Music From Another Room. But at the end of the day, you still, to a certain degree, need some support. I mean, that's why we have done, you know, distribution and licensing deals, to enable us to continue further and promote further. Because, I mean, personally, I don't think anybody, no matter how well you've done in the business, would be willing to take everything out of their pocket and put it on the line. You know, you can -- it's better to do a safe bet and try as best as you can with that, than wind up in the gutter the next morning. But, I mean, that's why you try and do separate deals outside of that. But as long as you-- you know, the main thing, the crux about it is having as much control as possible over what you're doing and owning the copyright and publishing on your work.

That's -- I mean, the thing that's really annoyed me, to say the least, was the fact that, you know, there still is a good chance that I'll never get the copyright and owner share off the first album back, every. And that scares the living daylights out of me, that that could be a possibility, that that has happened. So, you know, that would be the one -- the foremost warning to anybody, really, is try as best you can, at least if they're going to own it for a while or license it for a while, then at least make sure that it comes back to you at some point.

Q: Why did you release "Photograph Smile" overseas, I think it was, eight months before it came out in America?

A: Well, because I'd spent so many years away from, you know, everywhere, really. I just felt that it would be good to do some local work first, because I'd done -- you know, I am a European boy. And although I was living over here for ten years, it was -- I just felt it was important to work Europe again because I hadn't done it in so many years. And I hadn't really worked it as much as I'd worked America in the past. And I felt that it would be wiser to get some maybe a couple of shows, whether they be TV or festivals under my belt. Some -- hopefully, some good reviews, you know, so that I would have that under my belt in approaching America with some great reviews on the album and on the live shows and also some good job positions, which we were able to achieve, which was -- I felt was necessary in reestablishing myself in coming back to America. And, I mean, this time round, review wise, has been the best in my life. I have no complaints whatsoever. You know, finally, I feel like I'm getting some respect.

Q: The song that earned you respect all over the world, except for in America, was "Saltwater." And it speaks to your interest in environmental concerns. I also heard perhaps you were working on some computer software that told children about environmental issues. And you've contributed music to films about dolphins and whales. And your new album has this song called "How Many Times," which is about deforestation and preservation of our resources. What awakened this concern in you about environmental issues?

A: Well, I think it's just everyday life when you look around you and you see what's happening. You know, this affects all of us, absolutely every single one of us. And, I mean, the last thing that I want to do in life is preach. I don't like being preached to. You know, I don't think anybody does. So I just felt that with songs like "Saltwater" and with songs like "How Many Times" the least I can do, at least on a musical front, is keep an awareness up. If not for everybody else, for myself too, because we all get a little lackadaisical at times, you know, and need to be reminded that there are some serious problems and they won't go away unless people stand up and shout about it.

Q: "How Many Times" is one that you wrote by yourself, but two-thirds of the songs on "Photograph Smile" are collaborations. On these collaborations, do you write all the lyrics and then co-compose the music? How is that working?

A: I tend to write -- when I sit down and I have a flood of ideas, sometimes, as any -- as most creative people would know, you hit a brick wall with some ideas, whether that's musically or lyrically. I mean, generally, lyrically I'll do most of it myself. But also, with collaboration I find that it can only -- it might even be one word or a couple of cords, but I feel if someone has helped in the smallest way, then they deserve to be recognized for that. So some songs may be 50 percent, some songs may be three or four chords. But it's -- it generally comes down to a point where I've worked on something and I just can't find a passage or a route to the next stage of the song, which could be a passing chord, just as simple as that. But again, credit where credit is due. So that's why it looks like, you know, there was a lot of other people writing in there. But for the most part, I would say it was myself.

Q: The thing about "Photograph Smile," it has -- it's a piece of work. It has a cohesive sound all the way through. When and where were the "Photograph Smile" songs written? What was the atmosphere like?

A: Well, I'd have to say that quite a few of them were written many, many years ago, or at least some of the basic ideas were written a long time ago. And it was only when I was relaxed enough in the studio that, you know, the ideas -- the original ideas would flourish. And that was because, you know, again there was no pressures, no time constraints, nobody knocking at the door, which allowed me to just think freely and be as creative as possible. And so a lot of ideas that were spawned many years ago sort of came to light and were finished actually in the studio in very short amounts of time.

But also, I mean, there was something that happened in the studio this time because of that freedom, which was that in the first week that we decided to go in and try putting a couple of tracks down -- I mean, we knocked out 11 songs in the first week, half of which were old ideas and half of them new ideas. So, I mean, Photograph Smile was, for the most part, written in between recording songs. We would knock two or three tracks down in a day. And in between recording the two or three songs, I would have ideas and I'd sit down at the piano. And by the end of the day, there would be another song. So I think it was due to the circumstance and just, again, the freedom of knowing that, you know, I didn't know anybody and this was about the art and the craft of songwriting and trying to do -- and the freedom of expression and trying to do it as best as I could. Not for anybody else, but more so as a challenge to me as a writer.

Q: But studios can be kind of cold, clinical places. Where were these studios and were they warm? I hear the album is being recorded in warm, candle-lit places, for some reason.

A: Warm, candle-lit places? That's an interesting one. Well, yeah, I mean, it's nice that the candles and the incense are burning. But yes, I mean, for instance, there was -- I mean, we did record in several places. And that was due to the fact that we had put some basic tracks down and -- because it wasn't a planned album. Normally, if you're doing an album, you have to book a studio well ahead of time if you want a good studio. You know, you have to book it maybe six months, because, you know, there's hundreds, if not thousands, of artists trying to get in great studios. And so in the circumstance that we were at, we were just going in to try a couple of tracks and discovered that it was working far too well and that we wanted to continue the process. But we didn't have to do it immediately. So it was a question of finding studios and the availability of those studios whenever we could. So it was working on -- for a month working, taking two or three months off and just listening and hearing the music and figuring out which way we wanted to go. But there were several locations that were -- I mean, like Dublin is a fantastic city. Great people. And you know, the times when any frustration hit, it would be okay. That's -- let's stop it now. Let's -- I'm going to go out for a couple hours walk around the city or take a drive into the countryside, which was beautiful. And also in Italy as well. You know, that was -- I mean, Rome was fantastic. And we did some work in a very small studio right on the coast called Mullanetti. It was right on the water. So -- with windows. We opted for studios with windows, which was very, very important, because -- I mean, I do get downtrodden and claustrophobic in any room that doesn't have a window. I want to see what's going on out there. I don't want to be in a bunker. So, you know, especially in this little place in Italy, we would find ourselves, you know, if we hit a brick wall, we'd sit outside on the rocks or go swimming. And I think that's an all-important part of the creative process, because you can't expect yourself to be creative looking at four walls. I mean, yes, to a degree, lyrically, because that comes from within, and musically, to a certain extent. But you do need outside inspiration to lift you sometimes, to look at the natural beauty around you, to look at life around you. You know, to absorb all of that, to make sense of it all.