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John Doe gets upbeat and sunny - no, really! - on his latest solo album, Keeper. © Tony Nelson ./Retna Ltd./Corbis

Before making his luminous new album, Keeper, John Doe found himself in a curious dilemma: He was happy and content, experiencing sustained inner peace for the first time in years - and it was wreaking havoc on his songwriting.

"I would wake up and be in a good mood, and then I'd think, 'Shit, what do I write about?'" he says with a laugh. Peace of mind and satisfaction are great for the soul, but they don't always lend themselves easily to songwriting, not unless you want to write something cheesy and wimpy. But if you want substance, you have to work at it a bit."

Substance has never been a problem for Doe. As one of the founding members of the seminal LA punk band X, and throughout his notable solo career and side projects, he's amassed a catalogue of emotionally charged songs that, more often than not, explore the dark side of human relationships.

Keeper, a winning, evocative mix of Americana, is a lyrical change-up for Doe, and he admits that he had to take the time to let the songs come to him. "It wasn't always about me digging through my soul and my issues," he says. "If I was feeling love or seeing something that made me happy, even if it was just the smallest of ideas, I tried to build on that. It's an optimistic record, but there's still an edge to it. It's still me."

Dave Way produced Keeper. The two of you have worked together for a while now.

"Dave is my benefactor in many ways. We record stuff, and we keep going until it's right. He doesn't charge me until I have something I like. He's got a great home studio, and he's fairly well-off, so I pay him a third of my budget when we're done and everybody's happy.

"We did things a little differently this time: We recorded in a proper studio outside of his house. All of these incredible players came in, and as they did their thing in the studio, I was in the control room doing my singing and playing. Half of the vocals resulted from those sessions. It was like a real record." [laughs]

Musically, the album has a late '60s/early '70s feel. There's a Stones vibe from that era on many tracks.

"It just went that way. I didn't do what some people do where it's like, 'I love this record, so I'm going to make my record sound just like it.' That's really...dumb. [laughs] But I will admit, yes, that when some of the songs on this album leaned in a certain direction, I didn't run the other way.

"As a teenager, I found incredible inspiration from music of that era. Everyone from George Harrison to The Band to The Rolling Stones – I guess that would be post-pyschedelic rock. That's the time when I really learned how to play bass and write songs. It's a balancing act of paying homage, but not trying to mimic."

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