The 5-Minute Interview: Tori Amos, Singer/songwriter

The singer/songwriter Tori Amos, 42, is one of the co-founders of RAINN, a charity which supports victims of sexual assault. Her ninth album, 'American Doll Posse', is out on 1 May.

If I weren't talking to you right now, I'd be ...

In the mixing room, driving the engineers mad.

A common misperception about me is ...

That I'm sad.

I wish that people would take more notice of ...

What they're eating.

I'm not a politician but ...

If I were, I'd change computerised voting in America right now. I did it in Florida last time, and I just thought afterwards, how do I know who I voted for will be counted? There's no proof, especially when the company supplying the machines is a big supporter of the Republican candidate.

My ideal night out is ...

A night in with the husband cooking, delicious wine and a good movie.

In moments of weakness I ...

Cuss like only a minister's daughter knows how!

I'm good at ...

Well, cursing.

But I'm very bad at...

Anything domestic. Anything a wife should do, I'm terrible at. Anything a mistress should do, I'll try.

You know me as a musician, but in a truer life I'd have been ...

I think I'm unemployable!

The best age to be is ...

Forty-two. As men get older, they're treated as fine wine. Well, I want to be fine wine too! Bordeaux, preferably.

In a nutshell, my philosophy is ...

Sometimes you cannot just look at someone's potential; you have to look at where they're choosing to be in this hour.

Adam Benzine