You don't want to be so far off the planet that you come out with something that doesn't make sense to anybody.

I've got four or five records in my head at a time that I try to work on and I would like to do a guitar trio record next - since The Police I've mostly made records with keyboards.

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

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

For me, a great show is when there's a great rapport with the band and the audience, and we're all really into it. The first trick is to bring the audience into the band, break the ice, have a life, and be one, so you can enjoy the next hour and a half together.

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.

Aping what you've already done is just so dangerous and unrewarding.