IWAN RHEON

Playing live is closer to theatre, although when you're up there on your own, it's quite scary and revealing because you're playing your own songs. It's like a one man show that you've written yourself.

I'm still secretly a bit of a punk. Love The Clash and a bit of the Pistols. I guess as I've got older I've chilled out a bit. But, my teenage angst is still stirring somewhere!

I'm always drawn towards the darker stuff, because I think it's just a lot more interesting. But it's also good fun doing the comedy, and I think that's why 'Misfits' has been great in that way, as you get a really good balance. I think it's best to try and do everything as an actor, really.

When I was a teenager, I wanted to be a rock star, not an actor. It means I can do what I want on my own terms.

I started off from a very early age listening to music - all the usual cheesy stuff that little kids like.

I don't want to put any pressure on the music; it's my hobby and my release - a thing that I love.

I have no ambitions to be a pop star.

I wasn't, you know, Mr. Popular. I was somewhere in the middle ground. I was quite alternative, the things I liked to do. Skateboarding, at the time. Playing in a band as opposed to playing in the rugby team. You know, that kind of thing.

The first CD I had was 'Definitely Maybe' by Oasis, and I had a tape of' 'Parklife' by Blur when I was nine.

I was a huge Radiohead fan growing up.

I just want my music to be put out there, not shoved in people's faces. I want to keep it relaxed.

There was so much great music around in the '60s, stuff like The Small Faces, but I also love The Jam.

When you write a song, there's no point keeping it to yourself.

I listen to a lot of reggae.

I think drama school really teaches you how to annunciate; you're conscious that people might not understand you if you speak too fast and too Welsh.

The characters I tend to play are a little more interesting than the standard heroes. Romantic leads can be a little more straightforward, I guess. But it just seems to be the parts I get, I don't know what that says about me. I enjoy interesting characters and interesting people, I suppose.

I'd done two years on a soap opera where I was shooting things every day and they gave me a hard time about that, which I think is the wrong way to teach a young actor. They just made me really, really self-conscious about everything I did, which is the opposite of what you need to be when you're filming.

Probably. It's a weird thing with accents.When I was in drama school my accent probably got stronger because of that sense of identity when you leave home and go to somewhere where there are loads of people from different places. Holding on to being Welsh and where I was from was a real crutch for me.

It's a weird thing with accents. When I go home it gets a lot stronger, when I've had a few beers it gets a lot stronger.

My parents aren't artists or anything, but growing up in Wales, especially in a Welsh language school and community, they have this thing called the Eisteddfod where people compete in singing and acting and dancing and oratory all sorts of things. From a very young age, it's been a part of my upbringing.

Weirdly, when I was in drama school my accent probably got stronger because of that sense of identity when you leave home and go to somewhere where there are loads of people from different places. Holding on to being Welsh and where I was from was a real crutch for me.

The music is mine. Theres nothing to hide behind. Thats where you see the real person.

But acting is my main profession so it's about finding the right balance. I don't know how, if I went any further with the music, I would manage to do both - I would have to take time off from acting because I couldn't do both at same time. I could do six months on and six months off perhaps. But I'm really proud of the record. I've worked on it for a while and I'm really glad to finally get the album out, having done three EPs prior to its release.

I walked past Noel Gallagher on the street once and everyone was like, "Go speak to him! He's one of your heroes!" I thought I'd leave him. I don't know what I'd say to him.

When you're doing the same scene over and over, all day long, you need to keep your levels up for your own performance and for the other actors.