Mark Oliver Everett: The Eels frontman on lost loves, parallel universes and staying positive

Eels in concert at Brixton Academy, London in March last year (Rex Features)

I'm sacrificing my dignity so people can learn from my mistakes and not be as stupid as I've been. I like to be as honest as I can be in my work, and I've decided to take a bullet on the new record. It's about love and messing love up. My biggest problem is that I never realise I'm in a good situation.

It's amazing I've managed to do anything with my life It's incredible to me. I was lost and insecure as a teenager. The thing that gives me the most pleasure is that I wake up in the morning and realise I've been making music for 22 years.

Don't assume I'm a clever pop star People only think that because I wear glasses.

The main lesson I've learnt in love is that you can't change anybody The only thing you can change is yourself. I blew my last relationship but I learnt a lot. To be honest, I'd rather be in a healthy relationship and making bad music than this way round.

I suppose I have to be an Everettian In scientific circles, they say you're either an Everettian or a non-Everettian. My father (Hugh Everett III) was the physicist who proposed the many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics. It's comforting to think there might be a parallel universe where my dad and all the other members of my family who've passed away might still be alive.

I think of the glass being both half-full and half-empty I lost so many friends and family at a young age that I feel as though death is always close and it's never far from my mind. So I appreciate being alive more than most people and I try to make the most of it.

The music industry has changed so much over the past few years that it's hard to tell what the future holds With streaming and downloading, nobody is quite sure where the dust will settle as it's all happening so fast. All I know is that I feel fortunate to have started out when I did.

I always wanted to try a lot of different things and I'm fortunate enough to have been able to. I like seeing my music used in animated movies, because it's nice to see how a song suddenly seems different when accompanied by pictures. It would be interesting to write the soundtrack for a film but someone needs to ask me first. Maybe I could be the next Randy Newman.

I don't really have a lot of hobbies outside of music and that's something I really need to work on. My favourite part of any show is when I get to cover a song I love, because they're always such a pleasure to play. It keeps us interested, which is also why we try to play some of our own songs in a totally different way in front of an audience.

Luck plays a part in everything I feel like I've had my fair share of good and bad, so it balances out in some ways. You still need to work your ass off if you want anything to happen.

The Albert Hall is an amazing place to play It's such an iconic place – The Beatles and the Stones played there in the same night. If it's mentioned in "A Day in the Life", then it's probably pretty cool – although I'm not so sure about Blackburn, Lancashire.

Mark Oliver Everett, better known as E, is the lead singer, songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist and sometime drummer of rock band Eels. The group's new album, 'The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett', is released on 22 April, and will be followed by a tour that heads to Britain in June, culminating with a night at the Royal Albert Hall. For dates: eelstheband.com