Hotel Life

APOGEE MINI-ME

This is the smallest high-end input channel I can travel with. It has the same components as the big studio I have at home, but it can fit in a suitcase. Look at the knobs on the side. They’re bent because Virgin aren’t so good with luggage handling.

MICROPHONE

This is an exact copy of the mic I stole from Radio One a few years ago when I was broke. I recorded the whole of my second album on that stolen one. I liked it so much that I just gave them back their mic and got my own. It’s a Russian make of microphone called a Neumann.

TYLENOL EXTRA STRENGTH

These are as good as painkillers. It says you should only take eight in 24 hours, but if you take between 15 and 20, you get through the pain.

REEBOKS

I’m going to be wearing these non-stop for the next 18 months. I’m in the new British Reebok campaign. Part of the reason I’m in New York right now is to escape the billboards and bus adverts of me in Reeboks.

CLUB SANDWICH

I have become an expert on club sandwiches. I don’t think I have ever stayed at a hotel where there wasn’t a club sandwich on the room service menu. You can tell a lot about a hotel by their club sandwich. They do a good one here. As you can see, I don’t like pickles at all.

KENNY ROGERS CONCERT PROGRAM

This is definitely in the top five concerts I have been to in my entire life. I’m a big fan. I really like story songs, and he’s a master of that. I never thought I would get to see him, so this was amazing. I think my favorite record of his is Coward of the County. Also, his early group the First Edition were great.

GUCCI TRAVEL BAG
I am aware that fannypacks, or bumbags as we say in England, are not cool. But they are perfectly acceptable when traveling. I’ve lost so many boarding passes and passports that I need a rock-solid method of storage on my person.

iPod

This is my third iPod. I think I’m the only person in the world who’s had a really reliable experience with iPods. Never a problem. The iPod god likes me.

COMEDY-WRITING BOOK

It’s interesting the way that jokes are structured. This book reminds me of Barcelona. I spent the whole time I was last there reading this book. I put it in my suitcase this time around because I always pack books I want to make sure I’ll read. But actually it’s wishful thinking and I don’t read anything. I just watch films when I fly.

LAPTOP

I’m planning on getting this painted. You know how in the 80s everyone had their own custom guitar? Like Eddie Van Halen. For my next album, I want the laptop in the photos with me, but customized. Maybe with a mural of palm trees.