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

I can't imagine my life without the extraordinary bebop jazz revolution in New York in late '40s and '50s.

What I like about popular culture is its accessibility, and I've covered popular songs because they are amazing things.

I don't find the business easy. The moment you start talking about the business, you start sounding like someone in Spinal Tap.

I'm just a very primitive, infantile folk singer.

I would encourage people to realize that you don't have to panic if you're not part of a mainstream, or if you find yourself outside the flow. If it doesn't suit you, don't go along with it. Just sit it out and get your stuff done. Don't just sit moaning or getting drunk—I spent some years doing that. But if you can just come up with something of your own, however minor it is, that's going to be easier to live with when you're at the end of your life.

I really liked them, not just Syd, but all of them. Roger was very important, I thought, his contribution. And so was Rick's organ playing. It was a good band. It became something else completely, obviously.