I think that pop, and to some extent rock, are like sport and fashion industry in that they're about the exuberance of youth. That's the sort of subliminal ideology.

I play music a lot but on my own mostly, so it was nice to be around other people. There was a certain sense a relief in the physical act of just playing and being with other musicians.

I think there are deep structural things that are wrong in the world. The US is the Western empire of the 19th century regrouping in the 20th, not out of wickedness, but because everybody else in Eurasia was so completely destroyed by the Second World War. Economically, that was quite a useful time for the US, so they ended up in the position of enormous power. And like any great power, they're going to act in their own interests. The problem is due to what the business community wants, which is to make as much money as they can out of what other people do and pay as little as possible for it.

I only choose musicians who I think will emerge, can emerge, with their own character, while still going along with the tune in question.

Im not, by nature, a collaborator. My biggest influences were people like painters and poets. These are solitary workers.

I would like to think that the singer is the butterfly, and the drummer was just the little grub in the ground, working to become a caterpillar

Drinking was a big help with me making music, because drinking gives you courage. But it also makes you reckless, and that's the trouble.