When I first started doing the quieter, more acoustic material in Swans, there was a lot of derision and outright hatred from the audience and press, just as in the early days of Swans when we were rejected outright because of the bludgeoning, single-minded violence of the music.

I went to art school and never thought I'd be a musician, but then punk rock came along in the late 70s and kind of ruined my life. So I quit art school to get involved in music and I've been doing it ever since.

Maybe in the future I'll put out someone's one-off project, but generally I don't have time.

When I drink a Glass of water, it's thick and crawling with life. My mouth leads to the interior of my body - a caldron of disease, germs, and perversions of biology. I don't exist individually. I'm made of millions of living creatures, eating each other, decomposing, eating each other.

I used to routinely break my ribs doing stupid things onstage, but I have a healthy fear of breaking my bones now.

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

The music takes you. It has to be alive. It's like you hammer something, and the way it happens to bleed leads you into new directions.