I couldn't do rap. I was trying. I don't know how. I'm not good enough to know.

Progression is important. I'm always going to play music in the general vein of rock'n'roll, but when I started I was very much associated with the West Coast lo-fi thing and I didn't want to get anchored in with anything that was just in vogue for the time being.

The main issue was deciding what to play: Should it be old Ramones material or new material? I had about three albums worth of new material, but I knew that people would rather hear the Ramones songs.

I loved rap, especially in the early days. But I wasn't trying to shove it down anybody's throats.

It was sad when Sid Vicious died... I was freaked out when Phil Lynott died from Thin Lizzy. I cried. It was too crazy.

I've always admired people with really strong presences and felt that caring about the visual component of what you do is not intrinsically superficial or vain.

Because I'm quiet, people think I'm really cold, or rude, or snobby. But I'm literally scared to talk to them.