We were never a band that did 96 takes of the same thing. I had heard of groups that were into that kind of excess around that time. They'd work on the same track for three or four days and then work on it some more, but that's clearly not the way to record an album. If the track isn't happening and it creates some sort of psychological barrier, even after an hour or two, then you should stop and do something else. Go out: go to the pub, or a restaurant or something. Or play another song.

Every musician wants to do something which will hold up for a long time, and I guess we did it with 'Stairway to Heaven.'

I can only listen to what I'm working on, at the time. I can't listen to anything else because I don't want to copy it.

I had another idea of getting a traveling medicine wagon with a dropdown side and traveling around England. That might sound crazy to you, but over there it's so rural you can do it. Just drop down the side and play through big battery amps and mixers and it can all be as temporary or as permanent as I want it to be.

My finger picking is sort of a cross between Pete Seeger, Earl Scruggs, and total incompetence.

I'm at my best when I'm exhausted and under pressure.

Seeing people's faces, really getting off on them, makes me incredibly happy. Genuinely.