I've always liked extreme performers; I don't think I am one, but my mentality is in line with that.

The distance thing is partially due to the fact that I'm pretty shy and I've struggled with extreme stage fright in the past. So I just have to go onstage in a different head space so I'm not as self-aware.

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

When I got into rap I didn't exactly win any popularity contests. I called myself Dee Dee King, after B.B. King, to the total dismay of my fellow Ramones.

Visuals are as artistic as sounds, so being serious about both isn't a contradiction to me.

If somebody thinks wearing pretty dresses onstage somehow discredits us that's pretty absurd.

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.