Everybody starts by imitating their heroes. For me it was Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters.

A gut-string classical Spanish guitar, a sweet, lovely little lady. The smell of it. Even now, to open a guitar case, when it's an old wooden guitar, I could crawl in and close the lid.

The thing about being a songwriter, once you realize you are one, is that to provide ammo, you start to become an observer. ... You're constantly on the alert. That faculty gets trained in you over the years: observing people, how they react to one another, which in a way makes you weirdly distant. ... It's a little of Peeping Tom, being a song-writer.

I've always been suspicious of TV, I've always found music and video to be an unhappy marriage.

You don't start to play your guitar thinking you're going to be running an organisation that will maybe generate millions.

Anything you throw yourself into, you better get yourself out of.

There's a demon in me, and he's still around. Without the dope, we have a bit more of a chat these days.