I think the media's the kind of thing where the truth doesn't win, because it's no fun. The truth's no fun.

Relationships of any kind are powerful, and they always influence an artist. It's inescapable.

There have been three times. Once I got in a car accident and shattered my finger. A few years ago I didn't feel like being alive. That's all I can say.

I have never in my whole life asked for an autograph. It seems a little ... unnecessary.

I hate irony, particularly when it is used because there isn't any message or to hide that someone hasn't any story to tell. Just like when someone only spews out a stack of cool words which don't mean anything and then has the gall to call it art. I always want to create a bridge between us and the listener, and I want it to be so that kids want to create for themselves a story or a context of the words.

There aren't that many things left that haven't already been done, especially with music. I'm interested in ideas that can shake us all up.

Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. I'll share the formula I learned while forging my way forward as a full-time painter for forty-four years. The steps all break down to one simple sentence: Make art that connects with enough folks for you to earn a splendid living.