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DANIEL JOHNS: Yeah, I'm really happy with 'The Dissociatives' record. ... In a lot of ways, more than any other record. 'Diorama' was another record for me that I was really happy with, but... 'The Dissociatives', I'm happy with because it's probably the purest music that I've ever come up with. And because it was co-written with Paul... The idea of collaborating was kind of an idea that wasn't appealing to me until I realised the close musical connection I had with Paul. So we started writing this album and it's really... There's something about two people with equal passion for something that really makes something magic happen. You can't do what we did for this record on your own. I think 'Diorama', because I did it on my own, really made me curious and open to co-writing, but I just had to find someone that I really respected and admired.
ANDREW DENTON: You said before, "Sometimes I hate myself." Why is that?
DANIEL JOHNS: I thought everyone hated themselves sometimes, but...
ANDREW DENTON: Yeah, but I have good reasons. What are yours?
DANIEL JOHNS: I've always had a real sense of over-confidence and over-insecurities. And that's what kind of makes me me, I guess... There was three or four years in my life where I hated myself and, you know, would have quite happily ended it. But it's not... I'm just not like that anymore. Even if I hate myself... I can find it funny. I can still go, "You're such a freak. Stop it." Like, "You've got an amazing life, an amazing wife, and now you're in strife."
ANDREW DENTON: "Put down the knife."
DANIEL JOHNS: Yeah, "Put down the knife." You know. Yeah.
ANDREW DENTON: 'Cause that's the thing - to move away from that dark place, to want to live life, you've got to find something more in life than yourself, don't you?
DANIEL JOHNS: Yeah.
ANDREW DENTON: Is Natalie that?
DANIEL JOHNS: Yeah, definitely... It just makes everything more pleasurable when you've got someone that emotionally is there to rely on.
ANDREW DENTON: Is it nice to go to London sometimes and be Mr Imbruglia?
DANIEL JOHNS: Yeah. No, it's cool. I've been in shopping lines in Windsor, 'cause I have to go buy the groceries 'cause I'm just Captain Nobody over there...
ANDREW DENTON: (Laughs)
DANIEL JOHNS: Like... "Alright, babe, I'll go buy groceries." So I get in the car, drive into Windsor, which is the local spot. I hang out with my fellow 60-80-year-olds. There's, like, these people that are my best friends in the world that I only see at Waitrose. There's, like, this guy that always has this amazing hat and this cane that is...I would kill for it. But, like, yeah, I really love that guy, and I don't know his name, but I call him 'old mate'. "G'day, old mate." He goes, "Hello, my Australian friend." And... Other relationships like that are the things that make life worth living, I think. But anyway, back to Waitrose. I go in, I buy the groceries, come home, and if I'm in the line at Waitrose sometimes... 'Cause British celebrity culture is, like, this whole other weird thing where they all carry, you know, photos of David Beckham in their wallet, and, you know, 'OK!' magazine and celebrity magazines everywhere. And then I always hear... (Cockney accent) "I think that's Natalie Imbruglia's husband." And I know that was a good accent.
ANDREW DENTON: It was.
DANIEL JOHNS: And I think it was an accurate appraisal of the social situation that I've been in many times in my life. (Cockney accent) "I think that's Natalie Imbruglia's husband."
ANDREW DENTON: (Cockney accent) "I think it is." (Normally) I think you're enjoying life now. Would I be right?
DANIEL JOHNS: Yeah, definitely. I love life. It's the best thing in the whole world.
ANDREW DENTON: Good. Stay with it. Keep producing fantastic music. Daniel Johns, thank you.
DANIEL JOHNS: Thank you. Pleasure.