Robyn Hitchcock is best known for his quick-witted psychedelic folk rock, both with The Soft Boys and as a solo artist. But the songwriter has also appeared in several films, including a starring role in Jonathan Demmes' Storefront Hitchcock.

He also really knows his stuff when it comes to movies, especially those made by the filmmaker with whom he shares a last name: Alfred Hitchcock. For the record, they're unrelated. We asked Robyn a few questions about the legendary director and his films.

On his favorite Hitchcock film:

 “[North by Northwest] has an awful lot of the key ingredients. It’s disorientating, it’s funny in a way. From one angle, the whole thing can almost be seen as a comedy because it’s got the suspense it’s got the humor, it’s got the fear... He really understands the paranoid, but it’s paranoia with humor.”

On the similarity between Alfred Hitchcock and Bob Dylan:

“Dylan has consistenly been cinematic. You feel like he’s always going in there and looking up at a screen and when he write his songs. The common thread seems to be [visual]. It is, suppose, like a movie, or arguably like a dream. And maybe the best cinematic sequencing is dreamlike, like the sort of dream scenes that Htichcock has had.”

On which film Robyn Hitchcock would give himself a cameo:

“I wouldn’t mind seeing myself as one of the people in the music hall in 39 Steps, when the guy’s doing the mind-reading thing -- just with, you know, a pint of beer and a cigarette yelling. I can see myself in there.”