The more I come to understand music, the more I feel like a numbskull because there is always more to learn.

It's very important that you never depend on money to fulfill your creative vision. If you do that, you're doomed to fail.

I don't like to write any music to a script. Experience has taught me that's generally a waste of time.

When you've finished the film and everybody's already made back all their money, everybody just leaves you alone and I'm very happy. That's what it has to be like.

I like directors that give their composer a juicy role in their films. Some films have a small, minor role for music, some have a larger role.

If you want to survive in the film industry, it's not about fighting for your visions because that's a given. It's thinking about how much is your vision going to cost, and then, what are the consequences, because you may have $100 million, but the reality is that $100 million needs to make $500 million to be a success.

I was in the Chilli Peppers at the time and I asked myself, would I be able to wear a sock on my genitals at the age of forty and they proved me wrong because I guess they're still doing it.