I'm from Melbourne - it's a city of about 3 million - but when you're growing up in a place like that and you think it's quite a big city, and then you travel around and you go, "Actually . . . no." So when I go back now, Melbourne feels like a country town. My mum will be in like 15 cars of traffic and she'll be complaining. And I'm like, "That's not traffic, I'm sorry!"

I always find music guys writing about love. Think of something else for a change. I'm sorry, but it's been done, and it does work and it's good and all that, but I think something else would be nice. I tend not to write lyrics, cause I'm a bad lyricist. I sort of write the music, and I can orchestrate the whole thing, but the words, [singing] "I woke up this morning . . . " Awful stuff.

I started off with violin, then I started learning guitar, then I went to piano. But I self-taught piano just because I enjoyed it. I've always really enjoyed music. I haven't played much the last four years because I've been traveling around, so when I got his role [Neal in Uptown Girls (2003)], I had to start playing the guitar again.

Mum decided that I could sing a bit, so she put me in a choir, which I hated and it was just a nightmare. I was a rebellious sort of choirboy.

Like Billy [his character in Neighbours (1985)], my dad is a GP and my two eldest brothers are, too. If I wasn't acting, I would have definitely gone into medicine, too. It's totally fascinating.

[noting that all his siblings are doctors] I'm the black sheep of the family.

I'm glad I'm back to being a nobody.