From one generation to the next, The Beatles will remain the most important rock band of all time.

At 13 years old, I realized I could start my own band. I could write my own song, I could record my own record. I could start my own label. I could release my own record. I could book my own shows. I could write and publish my own fanzine. I could silk-screen my own T-shirt. I could do this all myself.

Most people don't take some things into consideration. When they hear an album, they hear the artist or they hear the lyric or they hear the melody. But they don't really think about the environment in which it was recorded, which is so important. It's that thing that determines what the album sounds like.

You look up to your heroes and you shouldn't be intimidated by them; you should be inspired by them.

Your personal history is a part of what happens with your hands and your head as you play music.

I dropped out of high school and I couldn't go to college 'cause I wasn't smart enough, so I'd resigned myself to loading trucks and playing punk rock on the weekends.

My mother was a public school teacher in Virginia, and we didn't have any money, we just survived on happiness, on being a happy family.