I'm a kind of hard-wired pessimist. I can't help but see the world in a certain kind of way.

It's always a pleasure on a personal note for me to come back to Australia.

L.A. is full of screenwriters. I don't know why. On many levels, it's such a thankless occupation.

I lost my innocence with Johnny Cash. I used to watch the Johnny Cash Show on television in Wangaratta when I was about 9 or 10 years old. At that stage I had really no idea about rock'n'roll. I watched him and from that point I saw that music could be an evil thing, a beautiful, evil thing.

Look, when I look back, from 20 onwards, I was actually having a pretty good time, I have to say.

The songs that I like are the ones that you can't visualize, that are just cries from the heart - those very straight, direct songs that make rock & roll music so wonderful.

Some are exploring the world through the subconscious. I've done that on occasions for various reasons, whether it be illness or self abuse, or whatever. Once things start to look grotesque I don't write them or sing them. I couldn't write them - making nightmares into living daylight...The minute it gets dark I shoot back, retreat.