QJulian, 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.

Q Your collaborator on "Photograph Smile" is a gentleman named Bob Rose. He's the co-producer of the record, the co-director of your record label. How did your relationship begin?

A Well, I had bumped into Bob Rose, I guess, quite a few times over the years. I met him in L.A. first, I think, probably on the club scene, when I was slightly out of control. And I was one, in the past, that always prejudged people too much. You know, because after I felt I was hurt so many times that I just -- you know, I judged people immediately on their -- even on their looks, without even considering what they were on the inside, what their personality was. And Bob looks very much in the past, like one of those traditional, sort of L.A. producer kind. Long black ponytail, you know, glittery jackets. And I was just wanting to stay as far away as possible from that. And I'm sure, under the circumstances and the condition that I was in, he wanted to stay as far away from me as possible. But we did manage to meet up several years ago, initially in the south of France, when I first moved down there, because I bumped into an old acquaintance called Greg Darling, who played piano and co-wrote some of the songs on the album, who used to be in a band called Darling Cruel, who I used to go and see in LA and used to see him on some of the music television show, you know, with videos, et cetera. And I was always a big fan of his. And Bob had just finished working with Greg Darling and played me some of his music. And I just enjoyed the production because it was honest, it was simple, it was raw. You know, no gadgets, no digital. It was using the natural ambiance of the rooms, et cetera. Micing techniques, et cetera.

And then he and I decided to sit down and have a chat about music, just casual. And we all like the same things. You know, we wanted -- my approach this time around was to be as natural and as raw and as honest as possible. And so we had a good chat. And it was only until I sat down and played him some acoustic ideas that he went, Jules, you can't put these on the shelf. At least consider coming with me into the studio for, you know, a week and let's see how this works. You know, no pressure, nobody telling you what to do. Just -- we'll just go in and play around and we'll put a band together. And that's how it all started. And after the first week, you know, of coming out with 11 tracks, I said, wow, this is what it's supposed to be like.

And so Bob was -- had not only become one of my dearest friends, without a doubt, but also not necessarily just that person to bound the ideas off or when you hit a brick wall, but is on the same wavelength musically as I am. Not only lyrically and production wise, arrangement wise, the musical aspect, but all over. And also, the approach business wise in regards to the label is, again, from both our standpoints, is to approach it from the heart. I mean, we both know there's a lot of business involved, but we definitely approach it from the heart level and gut feeling level, rather than anything else. And so, you know, from that first meeting, we have -- we are now partners in crime.

Q Well, perhaps the most unique aspect of "Photograph Smile" musically is the use of the strings. And Bob scored and conducted the strings. You arranged them with him. The string use is inventive, it's organic, it's subtle. How did strings become so central to "Photograph Smile"?

A Well, in the past, I don't believe I remember ever using live strings. And in the `80s all the rage was to sample strings rather than have like -- they were pretty good samples, but--and I couldn't tell in the `80s what was real or what was not real. But after experiencing real strings with Bob, there was no turning back. Absolutely no turning back, because of that organic element. Because of the type of songs that they were, because the production of the songs spoke to us about what the songs needed and because -- just because of the style and the nature, using real songs -- sorry, using real strings with my first experience with Bob in the studio in Rome, when I heard, you know, an 80-piece orchestra playing the string lines to, I think the first song was "I Should Have Known," without the track and the goose bumps on my arms just stood up high because just alone, the strings alone playing the song without the drums, without anything else, gave me -- made me feel so much emotion and the sincerity of what was trying to be expressed. There was no feeling like it. And there was no turning back after that.

And so in the future, you know, God knows where I'm going to go with this. But I do tend to write a lot of classically orientated pieces. I think "Photograph Smile" hints at that to a certain degree with one or two of the songs. But Bob knows and has heard some of the other pieces. And I think down the road there will be an album that will be full orchestra, piano and vocals. I mean, that's it. But it was just such a wonderful experience. And then, of course, you know, bringing in the vocals and then bringing in the rest of the track with the full orchestra there. It just all seemed to fit into place.

Q Also on "Photograph Smile," your vocal range has expanded. You're exploring the lower register of your voice in a very interesting way. Did it come naturally to you?
A I've -- my register and range has always been pretty all over the place. You know, I can go very low and I can reach some very reasonable falsetto notes. I've always had that capability. It's maybe never been expressed quite in the correct or right way before. Maybe it was the songs, maybe it was the arrangement, but this -- the process with this album was very, very natural. I mean, and especially there are still -- I mean, we recorded enough for several albums. And there are lots of songs that we didn't put on this album which Bob seems to believe are better than anything on this album, which also dive into vocal arrangements unlike you've ever heard me do before. There's one classical piece called "I Belong," which is all falsetto. And it's -- you wouldn't recognize it from Adam as far as an artist who would write something like this. And it's -- yeah, it's exciting to actually finally be able to show people, hopefully, what I'm capable of. For me, this album is just the beginning. You know, it truly is.

Q Well, speaking of beginning, supposedly when you were born, your father said, "Who's going to be a famous rocker like his dad?" Do you feel you were preordained to be a musician?

A "A famous little rocker like his dad." Yes. That's a tough one. I mean, I don't know. Obviously, growing up I had an interest in music. You know, at the age of 11, Dad bought me my first guitar. And I played drums a little bit before that. And I started playing acoustic guitar. And so I definitely had an ear. But it was a natural ear. And you know, I did sit down once or twice and have a proper lessons, but one of my experiences was on the piano -- first piano lesson with a little blue-rinsed haired old lady in school. And you know, I hit the wrong piano notes and she whacked my hand with a big wooden ruler and it hurt a great deal. I said, this is no way to learn music.

And so I just would quietly sit down and tinker away, more as a sort of sideline hobby, but not with serious interest until my mother bought me a piano when I was about 16, 16th birthday. And that's when I started sitting down when I wasn't out doing the normal teenage things. When I'd find a quiet moment, I would sit down and I would start to, without even trying, come up with a 30-minute, classically-oriented pieces, not unlike -- or not dissimilar, should I say, to Keith Jarrett's work. And I was -- I scared myself with what I was doing, because that's where my forte was and where my heart was at. You know, everybody was listening -- I mean, I myself, too, was listening to a lot of hard rock acts. You know, Led Zeppelin and Van Halen and all that kind of stuff. But a lot of the milder stuff, too, like Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers and many, many others, Badfinger and a couple of others. But every time I sat down in a quiet room with a piano, I'd come up with classically orientated pieces. And I have no idea where this comes from, unless it's a deep-rooted thing that comes from some of the orchestration that was on a lot of the Beatles' albums, you know, which, I believe, had a lot to do with George Martin, obviously.

But it's -- you know, I also, as I said, one of my first desires was to be a chef. And after that, before I got into music, I was doing a lot of stage acting and was offered a scholarship to the Royal Shakespeare Company. That was on the table. And at that point in time was when I did my first school gig with my friends in school that were taking lessons, et cetera. And it was one of those end-of-term open days is what they called it in England, where friends and family would come along to the school and observe how well you were doing in school. And plays were put on. And so we put a band together. And this was the first-ever band in the history of the school. And we got up and sang songs like "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Kansas City" and stuff like that. And at that point, I realized after three months--sorry. At that point I realized after being on stage for maybe three minutes, because those songs are only like three minutes long, if that some of them. And getting standing ovations and the buzz of being on stage. There was no other feeling like it. And I said, well, I love acting, but you know, I have to learn 100 to 1,000 lines and it's all too serious. It's wonderful, but look, I can get up on stage, play three chords, sing a little bit and the buzz was amazing. So I just said, this is what I want to do. And initially, it was for the buzz. But then it was later that I got the piano. And that's when I started taking the writing of music seriously. That's when it became an art form and a craft.

Q Was the first time you were ever recorded with your dad on the "Walls and Bridges" version of "Ya-Ya"?

A Yeah, that was definitely the first time. Yeah. That was -- I didn't know that was going on. I was actually playing around in the studio. He was very busy at that time. And I just found myself sitting in the studio itself, initially playing on his mellotron, which is why I also have a love for mellotrons as well. But then I, obviously, got bored of that and started hitting a snare drum with one stick. And Dad just came and sat in the room and started playing "Ya-Ya." And you know, the engineer put it on record and the next thing I knew about it was when I received an album, you know, and I played the album through and I was reading the credits, et cetera, and saw my name on it and went, my God. So that was a surprise, yeah.

Q What was your formative musical relationship with Ray Cooper, the percussionist?

A Oh, you have done your homework. Well, first and foremost, Mum was -- Mum, Cynthia, was good friends of Ray's and a lot of other mutual friends in the business. And I had decided that I'd had enough of living in North Wales and the farmlands and the countryside. And it was time to make a move. And I decided to move to London. And Ray kindly offered to put me up at his house, in the attic of his house where he had a bunch of instruments. You know, drums and other things. And he was a great player, of course, very talented player. Mostly known for his percussive work, but also a great pianist, great with most instruments, in fact. Multi-talented. Multi-instrumentalist, should I say. And so on the times that he was around and he wasn't on tour, you know, he would sit down with me at the piano and try and teach me a couple of things, or sit down at the drums and teach me some paradiddles

And it was a great first introduction into the seriousness of maintaining focus in whatever you were trying -- whatever approach you were trying to do. So that was a very sweet relationship that we had. And it's only occasionally that I get to see him now and then. But it's always with fond memories. And, you know, I think -- I couldn't say that he specifically taught me something in particular, but I think focus is part of that, you know, and determination.

Q So you're exploring all these musical avenues, you're playing with a band at school, you're taking some lessons, you're sitting at the piano, you're working with Ray. How did you get your first record deal?

A Well, that was a tough one. That was actually a tough one because it was rather complicated. Actually, I had done some demos for a French label in London. And I found myself in a rather awkward predicament because I couldn't pay for the demos. And they weren't going to cover it. And they wanted me to sign up for a deal with them if I couldn't come up with the finances to cover it or if I couldn't get another deal. And I truly didn't want to sign up with this very small French label. And a friend of mine at that time, who was fairly well off, said, well, listen, if you let me be your manager, I'll get you out of this deal and we'll try and get another deal. You know, a real deal. And I said, okay, why not. Nothing to lose here.

So I finished doing a lot more demos and then I started shipping the demos round without any name on them. And didn't get any response from anyone, nothing. And I think a lot of that was due to the fact that -- I don't think it was done to the demos because I felt there was some good material on the demos. I mean, half of them ended up on the first album. But I think a lot of people were afraid to touch me because of the association. On one hand, you know, people could look at it rubbing their hands together and thinking they could make a lot of money out of it. On the other hand, it's going to -- it could be a difficult one to maneuver.

And so finally, the famous Charisma label, a small indie label in London who had the likes of Genesis on board and a couple of other bands, the owner, Tony Stratton-Smith was apparently -- this is how the story goes -- was walking by the studio one day and heard some of the tracks being played in the studio by the A&R guy. And he said, who's that? And he said he didn't know. And he said, well find out and sign him up. And that's how that began.

And it was one cozy, happy little family to a certain degree, until you know, I realized that I'd been sold off to Atlantic Records, which was fine for the first year. I didn't see any of the cash from that. You know, that went straight into their hands. But it was fine for the first album and the first year. And then from that point on, it all went downhill, you know, as far as that was concerned. But that's how it all started.

Q It's got to make you feel good that he didn't know who you were when they said sign him up, when he just heard the music and -- you know, I like that.

A Oh, absolutely. I think that was the only approach I felt secure with, because it had to be based upon the work itself and not the association of the name.

Q Julian, you said that you consider "Photograph Smile" your first -- the first real Julian Lennon album. Now, doesn't that leave your fans who like your earlier work feeling a little bit awkward?

A Maybe so, to a certain degree. But they have to understand that -- I mean, I still like a lot of the earlier work, absolutely. But there were times on some of the albums that I felt that some of the material was not part of what I was about. I felt that there was -- you know, there were several songs on some of the albums that I felt coaxed into having on the albums. And that was, you know, due to peer pressure of the people around me, whether it was the producers, again, or the managers or the record companies. And I felt uncomfortable with some of that stuff, but went along with it because, you know, it would be right for the album, as far as their thoughts were concerned. Not mine. But again, due to the lack of courage and strength in those days, I was always aware that maybe things weren't quite the way that they should be, but never could speak up against them.

But they have to realize that this -- you know, this was truly the first time that I was free as an artist and in control as an artist on an album project. You know, I had my say to a certain degree on the past albums, but not 100 percent. There was always some input by somebody on the past work. I mean, at this point in time, after this album, I listen back to some of the work on the -- I mean, I like some of the other--"Mr. Jordan" I love a great deal, except one song.

But there is a point at which I would truly like to go back and pick out my favorite songs from past albums. Not as a "Best Of"/"Hits" kind of thing, not one of those ideas, but more from a creative standpoint. And some of the songs that I felt because the albums maybe weren't promoted well or whatever happened. A lot of people didn't get to hear a lot of some of the work. I mean, the critics really did do a slamming work on me on some of the work. But I felt there were some very good songs on some of those albums. And I would like to go back and take my favorites songs, like -- songs like "Mother Mary" and a couple of others like that and re-cut them today as I would in a totally free environment and do them the way -- I mean, not that they weren't done well to a certain degree in the past, but the way I feel they should sit alongside the work of this album. And release that at a later date.

Q "Valotte" came out in 1984. You essentially set the stage for this parade of rock and roll progeny that followed your first success from Jakob Dylan to Ziggy Marley. Do you agree?

A It has been written many times that I was sort of the pioneer of the next generation. And without a doubt, certainly feel like I was in many ways. I certainly was someone to watch in regards to how things worked out. How I was treated. What not to do. Make sure that you read the contracts. Make sure you've got a good lawyer. I think definitely -- there was an interview which Jakob Dylan had mentioned me several times in regards to, well, yes, I watched his career closely in the sense of how he was treated, how he was looked at, how he was observed, how he was critiqued, et cetera. And obviously, to a certain degree, what kind of deals were set up and how the manipulation worked to a certain degree.

So, yeah, I was -- I did jump in the deep end myself. So anything that went wrong in the past, I have myself to blame on many levels. But without those experiences, I feel I wouldn't be who I am today and as content and as happy as I am today. You have -- you know, you have to go through those experiences yourself to understand what it's all about. You know, people who can give you advice in so many ways, but that only works to a certain level. You have to do it yourself. You have to experience to understand what it's about.

Q Julian, from the beginning of your career, so many of your songs they are introspective, melancholy, romantic. Have there been a lot of broken relationships over the last 15 years?

A Yes. Yeah, always. Yeah, I -- it's rare in life to find any relationship that is 100 percent perfect, whether that's on a very, very personal level, whether that's on a friendship level, whether that's on a business level. There are always upsets. It's to be expected. It's, you know, how you deal with them that makes it either a smoother or less smooth ride. And I find that -- again, going back to the being honest and truthful and rawness of it all, I can only write about what I've experienced, otherwise, it would be a lie, to a certain degree. And I can only write about what I feel and have felt and have experienced and have been through, because that's real. To me, at least. And I -- and obviously, speaking with a lot of friends and people -- other people who have been through pain and heartbreak, that's something everybody can relate to.

You know, I mean, one of the -- it's not the only reason, but, you know, I don't get pleasure in writing up-tempo, happy songs. I mean, a lot of people do that and it's very pop and commercial and it's very nice. And we all tap our toes once in a while. But hopefully, to a certain degree, everybody knows what it feels like to be happy. You don't need a shoulder to lean on when you're happy. You know, you don't need someone to talk to when you're happy. It's -- for me, it's only in times of pain and despair and loneliness that you need those elements, someone to talk to, a shoulder to cry on, et cetera. And so to a certain degree, writing ballads like this that have such emotional depth, I think, are definitely a link to other people and what they feel in life and what -- to the experiences they've been through. And that's why the songs for me are very cathartic and very therapeutic on many levels because it's getting it out of your system. It's relating it to someone. And I think that's why there's a communication between what I do and the fans out there, because it is available whenever you want, in times of need, when you need to think about your life and the troubles you've been through and where to go next.

Q I understand you're in a healthy relationship right now.

A As healthy as it gets, I guess, yes. Yes, absolutely.

Q Are you engaged to be married?

A Well, see, I have a slight quibble about the word "engagement." And for me, I'm not an openly religious person. I think religion has caused more wars than anything else in humanity. I believe that there are energies, there are spiritual energies out there. There is good and bad. There is theYin and the Yang. And, you know, I believe seriously in Karma and things that go around come around and the circle of life. I believe in all those elements -- all the natural elements which speak to us clearly, not man-made elements. And so I would -- what I've suggested the ring represents is a commitment. Whether you want to call that an engagement or marriage, but it is a commitment to this person of truth and honesty.

Q And what's the name of the woman you're committed to?

A Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it?

Q First name.

A My -- Lucy.

Q Now, isn't it ironic that you're --

A Yes, I know. Well, we've just come full circle, haven't we? But go on, you might as well finish off.

Q Isn't it ironic that you're in a relationship with a woman named Lucy?

A To a certain degree, if you want to look at it that way.

Q Because the story goes that you brought your dad home a drawing from school...

A Painting.

Q Painting -- tell me the story.

A It's pretty vague. As you do as a young kid, you do a lot of painting and sketching and drawing and anything creative, you know, little sculpting or -- with Pleistocene and that kind of stuff. And I always used to bring my pictures home. And I used to have a little girlfriend in school, at the age of 3 -- 2 or 3, called Lucy. And as kids' imaginations do run wild with reality because they don't fully understand what reality is -- you know, reality can be anything to a child. And so the painting was of my little girlfriend, Lucy, in the sky with diamonds. What that meant, I have no idea to me. But it was a truth and a reality at that time. And yes, I did bring the painting home and show Dad. And yes, that's where the idea for the song came from. And obviously, because of his relationship with drugs people were going to look at it differently, LSD, of course. But, you know, if you just -- if you listen to the lyrics you can tell it's more like a dream. It's not about -- I mean, people -- again, people make their own ideas up about what it means to them. But in an honest -- all honest truth and reality, it was about the painting. Initially, about the painting.

Q Another song you directly inspired to be written was "Hey Jude," which Paul McCartney wrote. What does "Hey Jude" mean to you?

A Well, I mean, for me it represents the fact that a close friend of my Dad's and my Mother's also, Cynthia, was concerned about my welfare, my well being at the time of divorce and separation of my Mum and Dad when Dad went off with Yoko. So, you know, the story goes -- and I've spoken to him about it years ago, but it's basically that he was driving over to console us and see us after he heard about the separation, about the split, about Yoko being on the doorstep of the house. And he was driving in the rain and the windscreen wipers squeaking by and was thinking about how I was going to deal with things and how I would cope. And that's where the song idea came from.

Q Lyrically, "Hey Jude" leaves room for a lot of interpretation.

A Sure.

Q What do you think "Hey Jude" says to other people? You know, if you can see it outside of yourself.

A Well, I think, to a certain degree, it represents the same thing. I think people look at it as a song that was written about the potential of things that might happen in my life, of the sad songs and trying to make life -- making life better. You know, which is only the point which I feel I've not reached now, which is making things better for myself. Taking -- the way I look at it is that we all get dealt a hand in life and it's what you do with the cards that makes a difference. And I've felt that I've had some pretty bad hands in the past and that it's only of late that I've started coming up with tomatoes.

But I think that's what it's related to. I don't think people -- I think they understand it to a certain degree, but I don't think people really know how difficult life has been, to a -- on one level. Not on all levels, but on one particular level. And I think it's only with the emergence of some of the interviews that I've done of late and some of the television interviews I've done of late, like the VH1 special, et cetera, that some people are beginning to have an inkling of what it truly has been like to be the son of a potential god icon, which is a tough one, especially when you're following in the same footsteps.

Q Your father, John Lennon, was known for public statements of peace and love. Your private father-son relationship was troubled. Do you think John Lennon was a hypocrite?

A Well, I do, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, you know, it's -- to a certain degree, it's almost like barefaced lying, in a sense. I mean, you know, obviously, a lot of people have so much love for this man. And it's obviously a very difficult thing to tell them that this man was not who he said he was, to a certain degree, in the sense that it was about publicly preaching about love and peace, et cetera. But the fact of the matter was that he couldn't keep that going at home. That he couldn't even take care of his own family. And even-- you know, what surprises me more so is that even later on in life, towards several years before his death, it was only then that he just about started clicking that maybe I should try and make it up to my son who I've -- you know, who I've not paid any attention to for, you know, 20 years -- almost 20 years. And for me that's very disturbing. You know, it saddens me. It saddens me a great deal. But, you know, the public don't want to hear that. They don't want to hear that the icon and god of peace and love that was existing on this planet was actually not -- didn't believe himself in what he was saying, to a certain degree.

Q Well, we talk about how all things make people who they are. Perhaps if he had devoted the proper time to you, then he wouldn't have been so outspoken at large about peace and love.

A Quite possibly, quite possibly. That's something we'll never know.

Q Besides "Hey Jude" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," there are several Beatles' songs, like "Goodnight" and "Julia" that have a direct connection to your. So when you hear a Beatles' song or fans come up to you to say how much they love your dad, you obviously have mixed emotions.

A Oh, of course.

Q How do you react?

A Well, that's a tough one, you know, because it's very difficult because people are only looking at him from his musical talent and his persona, per se, on that front. Whereas, I was the person that had to deal with the actual real-life person, the real-life John Lennon, who was not around, who was always away and who, for many years, didn't remain in touch with me and didn't seem to care, didn't seem to -- didn't look after me. And so, you know, it has been very difficult in the past, you know, dealing with that issue of, well, your dad's so great and I try and be as polite as possible. And these days, I just sort of -- you know, it's a lot easier just to go, oh, yes, thank you. He was a great musical talent, rather than clinch my fist and sort of say, well, you don't know the half of it. And people don't want to know the half of it. That's the problem. But if they really did want to understand this man, they should delve into his background and understand who he truly was, because it wasn't all the -- all it was made out to be.

Q In the liner notes of "Photograph Smile," you say, "To the people I may have hurt over the years, it takes a lifetime to grow up and to realize what affect we have on each other as human beings." You said this at the age of 35. Wasn't your dad coming to similar realizations as he approached 40 and don't you think the two of you would have established a closer relationship as time went on?

A Probably. I would probably think so. I -- it might be difficult, though. It might have been difficult because I think -- you know, I've become a very strong-willed person. And I -- we either would have gone along like a house on fire or we would have had some very strong difference of opinions in life, which either might have worked out or might not have. You know, it's -- I find it very difficult to live in the world of could-have-beens. You know, the hypothetical world. So I tend not to live there. I find that a pointless task or venture. And dealing with reality is the only way forward. But, yeah, you know, I just don't know. I don't know. It would have been either great or tough.

Q But the anger and bitterness that you express sometimes might have been erased, but we'll never know and that's not anyone's fault except for one person.

A Yes, very true. Very true. But it's said and it's done and there's nothing that can be changed about it. So, again, there's no point harping on that. The only thing to do is move forward.

Q And you have. You've been very honest to the media about many private issues over the last year. Had you held back before in your public statements?

A Yeah. I mean, I didn't want to get into that publicly anyway. I didn't think it was anybody's business. Although I think the main reason I felt it necessary to talk about some of those issues was the fact that as far as my Mother and I were concerned, I felt that a lot of the history, to a certain degree, that had been publicly presented through the media was incorrect and was a lie, to a certain degree. Or should I say, heavily manipulated. And I just felt that it was time that, you know, Yoko be seen in the correct light of truth, not behind all the spin doctors, et cetera. I mean, there are certain things that she has done to the Lennon family which are horrendous, absolutely horrendous. And I don't want to be bitter and I don't want to harp on. But if I'm going to be asked a question, I'm going to tell you the answer with barefaced truth, as clearly and as honestly and as royally as I can possibly offer it up. And, you know, there were certain things that she did. She likes to believe that at one point, through the `80s while I felt I was still under a thumb to her to a certain degree waiting for the settlement to be delegated or sorted out. So for a while, I felt I had to be quiet. But after the settlement was agreed upon and settled, I felt it was time that certain things should be aired and cleared up, like some of the things she's done, because it was publicly seen that we were all one happy family, which to a certain degree that was okay. And I -- again, I have a great amount of love for Sean. There is not a thing in the world that I would ever say or could say about Sean that would change that. You know, as I said, I used to babysit him. I've grown up with him, I've watched him carefully. He's a very young, intelligent man. I hope he finds in himself -- you know, I think he has Yoko's shadow, which is an interesting one.

But, yeah, I mean, those things I think that I have now aired over the past year or so I think now that they have been aired, it's -- that's going to come to a close now. I have nothing more to say on anything else to do with the estate, the family, et cetera. For me it's all said and done. It's out there, it's gone. If you don't know it, get on the Internet. It's written up somewhere, that's for sure.