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“The lithe, spindrift guitar work of Dreaming With Alice achieves a sense of quintessence.” — The Wire, July 2007

After leaving school in 1970 I set off for Italy to study painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence. Italy in the 1970s was a turbulent place. I was lucky to find the art school open more than two or three days a week. Either it was on strike or closed for the celebration of a saint’s day. It was very chaotic. I began to feel restless and as though I was missing out on Italy. I left the Accademia after one year.

Laura Papi, a family friend, encouraged me to do more with the songs I had been writing in Florence and to think about putting together an album. One day she gave me a present of a little Grundig tape recorder. I couldn’t double-track, but it inspired me to keep writing songs.

In the autumn of 1971 we went down to Rome where Laura, together with her friend the actor Franco Leo, had managed to arrange an audition for me at RCA. I remember sitting on the edge of a big office chair in front of some very austere-looking men in suits, playing my songs.

When I had finished they asked me to go outside and wait. I thought, “Oh well, that’s that.”