Commercial record has never interested me. It's amazing I was in a band like The Police that had such phenomenal commercial success. Part of what made The Police what it was was that we didn't all come in with obvious mainstream musical tastes. We were a rock band and somehow we had to make rock music, but it was informed by a lot of things outside of the mainstream for sure.

I think we are coming to a new era where people will record much faster.

What I wanted to do was play the guitar but I don't like instrumental rock. I think it is tripe.

I don't have a great nostalgia for the past.

I don't go out much to see bands. I prefer to be on stage.

There is always the working out of things, and you have to have sort of a gut response to it. And an intellectual response. And an aesthetic response. All that comes from having done this for a long time. Instead of saying, "That's a really good rock track, and that will do," I'm looking for something that is more original and fresh. There are a lot of elements to get into it: a level or sophistication, passion and excitement.

I think rock records tend to be very expensive.