It was a scene in the sense that we were all close and we all knew each other before the different bands had really formed. We used to rehearse in the same place.

The Lounge Lizards were relating with a tradition and it was like I was playing within a musical context. The guitar playing stood out as being different in some way. That was a real education for me.

We recorded that trio and it's out on the Knitting Factory label. I've got another record in the can with that group and Marc, which I'll hopefully finish some time before next summer.

The period right before punk rock where people like Lou Reed and Iggy Pop were really strong.

My parents were missionaries - I was born in the States but I grew up in Brazil.

Years ago when DNA was going on, I produced a record in Italy but I didn't think I'd do another one.

We deliberately used elements from Brazilian music and from African and Asian music. Now people can hear that but then it sounded so abstract, they couldn't hear it.