Naturally, no one knows more about music than musicians. They talk about their own work all the time, but they rarely get to talk about other people's music.

I just wanted to tell the story of a bunch of musicians who had never had their story told before. There's no preaching or theorizing.

The most surprising and rewarding chapter to write was the Butthole Surfers chapter. I'd always thought of them as a bunch of drug-addled reprobates - which maybe they were - but it turned out to be more complicated than that.

Just as not all popular albums are wonderful, not all wonderful albums are popular.

The American indie underground made music for like-minded people who thought for themselves. Thinking for yourself is intrinsically subversive.

Back in the day, in '91 or so, I tried to interview Fugazi for Rolling Stone, which the band felt stood for everything they detested about corporate infiltration of music. They said, 'We'll do the interview if you give us a million dollars of cash in a suitcase.' Which was their way of saying no.

For Nirvana, putting out their first major-label record was like getting into a new car. But the runaway success was like suddenly discovering that the car was a Ferrari and the accelerator pedal was Krazy Glued to the floorboard.