How We Met: Lily Allen & Mark Ronson

Mark Ronson 29 is a music producer, DJ and co-founder of Allido Records. He has worked with Robbie Williams, Amy Winehouse and Christina Aguilera. His album 'Version' reached number two in the charts. He lives in New York.

On the night we met, Lily was hanging around in the club after the lights had gone on. I'd just bought this really nice leather jacket. It was the most I had ever spent on a piece of clothing, and I was wearing it only for the second time. Anyway, Lily came up with this pin badge and stuck it into that jacket, right into the most expensive thing I owned. I was like "What did you just do?" and she just shrugged and said, "It's cool."

On a plane to New York a few months later, I put her CD on and heard "Smile", and it just knocked me out. I emailed her as soon as I got back, and asked if I could play it on my radio show, and would she come out to New York to work on some stuff.

I wasn't a big name at the time, so I got all my air miles to pay for the flight, and put her up at the Holiday Inn in Chinatown. It was at the height of the Sars epidemic, and she ended up checking out and sleeping at a friend's. But she was too shy to tell me.

We spent a day together and worked on a couple of things, and went to record shops where I played samples to her. Then I wrote the piano and guitar bit to "Littlest Things", and she sat down and scribbled for about an hour and finished the lyrics.

We went into the booth to record the song. She originally wanted to do a Mike Skinner thing, rapping the verse and singing the chorus. But I asked her to sing it all, and she just made up the whole melody on the spot, and sang this amazing solo. At that moment I realised that this girl has a really special gift.

Because of Lily's sense of style, and the fact that she's so outspoken, people forget that the reason people listen to her is because she's made an amazing record. I would say she's one of the best pop melody writers of her generation. With a friend you can forget that you are also in awe of their talent. But I am. In October we went on tour in the US, where I was opening up for her. Watching someone's rise is so much fun. It was great to see her playing a sell-out gig in New York for the first time.

Nobody famous is how they seem in the papers, because it's always going to be the most interesting or controversial part of what they are that ends up in print. That definitely goes for Lily. Sure, she can seem insecure, but I don't know any artist who isn't. She's also outspoken. But even when she's insulting you she's being funny, so it somehow doesn't matter.

Lily Allen 22 is a singer and songwriter. Her debut single, 'Smile', was the summer hit of 2006, and Her first album, 'Alright, Still', went double platinum. She lives in Islington with her dog, Maggie May.

My boyfriend Seb does a club night called Yo Yo at the Notting Hill Arts Club, and Mark came over from New York to DJ. It was about two years ago, before my first album, and before I even had a record deal.

We got very drunk, and the next day Seb and I met Mark for lunch at this place called Paradise, on Chamberlain Road. I told him I was a singer. He didn't seem all that bothered, but I gave him a copy of my demo CD anyway.

He didn't call for ages. But then, six months later, he rang and asked if I could go to New York and sing on his new single. A couple of months after that, I went back, and we made one of the songs on my album.

Mark's got a very good ear. He's very relaxed in the studio and very thoughtful. There's not really any pressure working there, because he's got his own studio so he doesn't have time constraints.

The song was called "Littlest Things" and was about having broken up with my boyfriend, because Seb and I had split up for a few months. We've since got back together. It must have been quite awkward for Mark because Seb was his friend, but being fresh out of a relationship I wanted to write about what was on my mind.

Mark came up with the music first, then I came up with the words and we fitted it all together into a melody. That's the way I normally make songs - I write everything in the studio - and it obviously means that producers are very important to me. It's a complete joint effort.

We're really good friends now. We see each other a lot and Mark came and toured with me in the US. At the moment, I work all the time, so on most occasions when I see someone, I'm working too. But it's more than just a straight working relationship: I'll see Mark at festivals, for instance, where there are big spaces when we can sit down and catch up.

If I have a weekend off and he's in the UK, we'll always go out for lunch. He's a nice guy. He can be very funny sometimes, but is also a kind person, and I get on very well with his girlfriend. He is very relaxing to be around. Maybe that's because he's grown up in a rock'n'roll environment, so isn't fazed by what's happened to me. I find that refreshing, because in the past year I've found myself in situations where people surrounding me are a bit obsessed. In a nice way, of course, but that kind of thing does make me feel freaked out. Mark, though, is one of the few people who is always just a calming guy to be around. s

'Oh My God', by Mark Ronson and Lily Allen, is out on Columbia Records