Cultural Life: Ringo Starr, drummer

(REUTERS)

Music
The good thing about being Ringo Starr is that you get stuff sent and given to you all the time. The Traveling Wilburys Collection box set with the CDs and DVD was the most fun I've had in a long time. To see the boys play – Roy [Orbison], George [Harrison], Tom [Petty], Jeff [Lynne] and Bob [Dylan] – it reminds you how much fun it is to play. It's great. My main love is to play my drums. I love to write. I love to hang out with musicians.

A couple of years ago, the Magic Numbers were my band. I love their first album. Amy Winehouse has a really cool sound, too – she's a great talent. God bless Amy. There's a lot of people I like out there but, too often, most of them only get a chance to make one CD. I like a CD called Two Shoes by The Cat Empire. They're like Madness, except they're Australian, and they record in Cuba. And the brass is great, and the rhythm is great.

I love The Zutons, I can't say that often enough. I get to know about the bands coming out of Liverpool. It's not like I'm dialled in every minute of the day but, sure, I try and keep up. I didn't know The Wombats, so it was great to discover them. Good music always comes out of Liverpool.

Film
Anything by Monty Python. And I love Dick Lester who, of course, did A Hard Day's Night and Help! And Peter Sellers. Very, very funny man. We did The Magic Christian together.

Theatre
Last year, I went to see Love, the Cirque du Soleil show, in Las Vegas. What a time we had! It was fabulous. You should go. George [ Martin] and his son, Giles, did a wonderful job on the Love album. I really mean that. Well, when I heard my own drumming again, all I can say, man, is WOW!

Visual arts
I like painting. I live in Monte Carlo, where the light is so great. I had a home in Amsterdam for six years, so Rembrandt is my all-time hero. And I like Van Gogh's self-portraits. These guys are painters. I'm a musician who likes to have fun.

'Liverpool 8', Ringo Starr's new single and album, are out now on Capitol