On his debut album Mind of Mine, Zayn set out to establish himself as an individual artist and to break away from his constraints as a member of One Direction. He did, however, look to one mega-successful Brit band to help steer his solo course: the Beatles.

In a new excerpt from his upcoming autobiography — via The Fader — the 23-year old writes about taking a deep dive into the Fab Four’s catalog while crafting Mind of Mine.

“I’d been listening to a lot of tracks by the Beatles when I was working on it,” he wrote. “I had really got into some of their more psychedelic stuff, like ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ from the 1967 album Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The piano chords at the start of ‘Fool for You,’ and the guitars, were inspired by the Beatles’ sound... I like to draw on the influence of all sorts of music and artists.”

Along with discussing the Beatles’ influence on his work, Z also reflected on the nightmarish process of choosing Mind of Mine’s tracklist.

“When I’d finally finished recording Mind of Mine, I realized I had put down 48 songs. I couldn’t believe we had so many,” he wrote. “It was a nightmare choosing the final list, especially because all the songs meant a lot to me, and I procrastinated as much as I could before making my decision. In the end, it all came together; the songs chosen for the album spoke for themselves.”

Zayn’s autobiography, simply titled Zayn, arrives November 1 via Penguin Random House. Previous excerpts have covered his relationship with producer Malay and his frustration with 1D’s chaste-as-hell music. Can’t wait to see what else we’ll soon learn about that mind of his.