Dashing English singer-songwriter Charlie Winston just finished his Canadian tour with a show in Vancouver. While he ate breakfast at 3:00 in the afternoon (such is life on the road), I joined him to talk about his prolific songwriting, how Canada reminds him of Ireland and why he chops up his favourite designer sweaters.

Kelsey Dundon: You've got quite a following overseas but in Canada many people are hearing about you for the first time. How would you introduce yourself?

Charlie Winston: That's tough because my style is so varied. In my song "Boxes" I talk about how I don't want to be put in a box because that takes away the fun. I'd hate to write within a niche. But I think the most important element of my sound is my voice, it's the one constant.

KD: You've worked with Peter Gabriel, you've written a sort of love song to Beethoven, needless to say your influences are varied. What are you excited about now? What's on your iPod?

CW: Let's see -- Jono McCleery, Bon Iver, Black Keys, Feist, Little Dragon, and M83.

KD: What's your favourite part of the process -- writing, recording or performing?

CW: Definitely writing. It's the bit which is the most mine, it's the most personal. To write is to get all those ideas out and encapsulate them so they can be explored by other people. I very rarely play my songs for myself. I guess when a dream's been realized it's dead. When I started recording this album I went to the studio with 27 songs and I had to be quite cutthroat about which ones I threw away.

KD: Vancouver is the last stop on your tour through the Great White North. Has Canada surprised you?

CW: I like that Canada's schizophrenic with the French and the English -- in some ways it felt like two different tours. Canadians have a general friendliness, it reminds me a lot of touring through Ireland, actually, people make you feel welcome. I'm surprised by how much my popularity is growing in Quebec, Montreal and Toronto. To play sold-out shows here was a pleasant surprise.

KD: What's the story behind your signature half-undone tie?

CW: I love fashion, I've even thought about starting a fashion line one day. I guess I like that you can wear plain block colours and add a little fun with ties so I started wearing them with everything. I cut these holes in my shirts myself. I cringe when I cut up my really expensive sweaters, but I do it anyway.

Charlie Winston Running Still is available from Universal.

Third photo by Andrew Gura.