Harry Styles has been letting the light in by stepping out in public more frequently, and according to him, he has a love interest to thank.

In conversation with Thom Yorke for Rolling Stone‘s cover story published Thursday (Oct. 8), the pop star and Radiohead frontman began by recalling how they first bumped into each other while both out walking around in Rome. “You, to me, had always been that person that I was scared of meeting,” Styles told Yorke, who said: “I was also impressed that you were just walking down the street. I was like, ‘Where’s his security?’”

“I think in the early days, when I was in [One Direction],” Styles replied, “so much of the hotel experience felt very locked in. When I’d be home, it felt like, ‘Oh, it’s not safe for me to be out.’”

That all changed when a romantic partner entered his life. “Then I had a girlfriend who was very outgoing, and she was coming to London and I was like, ‘Oh, if we just sit in my house for three days, she’s gonna think I’m nuts,’” the former boy bander continued. “So we walked everywhere, and it was this realization for me: ‘Oh, it’s fine to be outside.’ It kind of broke that thing. Now, it’s changed my life in such a big way, because it’s how you stay connected to the world.”

It’s unclear whether Styles was referring to an ex-girlfriend or partner Zoe Kravitz, who is now reportedly his fiancée. Either way, he and the actress have been spotted out in public together a number of times, occasionally saying hello to fans who approach them.

In their conversation for the publication’s “Musicians on Musicians” issue, Styles and Yorke chatted about how important it is to stay connected with the real world as songwriters.

“It’s an interesting cycle, I think,” the “As It Was” singer mused. “You make something that connects with people, because you’ve captured something about the human experience, whether it’s a vulnerability or a sensitivity that comes with being human. And then any kind of success around that thing makes it take on this life of its own. Then everything around you makes your experience incredibly not human.”

“The goal is how you shut that out when you’re making stuff, so you can still be making music about the human experience,” he continued.

“Songwriting is quite a naive thing,” Yorke said. “You can’t be savvy about it. You can work really hard on it — but the good stuff just happens, and you don’t know why. And you’ve got to be honest with yourself that you don’t know why. When stuff forms that you like, you just grab onto it and you don’t let go.”

See Styles and Yorke on the cover of Rolling Stone below.