It wouldn't interest me to try to sound like Cop or something. It would be silly and soul-crushing.

I don't want to sound like everybody else.

The goal is ecstasy, but I don't want to make some sort of saccharine pop music. I want to make something that's completely uncompromising: the best possible music ever made.

I'm a producer in the old-school way - not just some slacker working on Pro Tools.

Swans are majestic, beautiful looking creatures. With really ugly temperaments.

Making those CDs, signing them, numbering them, packing them. It takes hundreds of hours, but it's worth it because I'm able to do the thing I love.

I'm always trying to push myself into unfamiliar places with the music, sometimes without success, I have to admit. But I'd rather be there than relying on a style that people recognize and want to follow.