I think the first song I ever wrote ... was called "Can't Help Thinking About Me." That's an illuminating little piece, isn't it?

I never could get over the fact that The Pixies formed, worked and separated without America taking them to its heart or even recognizing their existence for the most part.

Actually, my ambition at eight or nine years old was to be one of Little Richard's sax players, and that's when I got my first saxophone, a Selmer. It was a strange Bakelite material - that creamy plastic with all the gold keys on it. I had to get a job as a butcher's delivery boy to start paying for it.

I'm not a prophet or a stone aged man, just a mortal with potential of a superman. I'm living on.

I think hip-hop is actually one of the most challenging things that's happened in music in a long time.

Look up here, I'm in heaven.

And I think my spaceship knows which way to go.