When I've met people that work in any walk of life they say, "If it wasn't for punk I wouldn't be doing it this way." I think spiritually, it did change the world a lot.

Punk gave me the strength to think, "Yeah, you can stand up and be counted, and do what you want in life, and not be hoodwinked by it all," in a simple, very general sweeping way.

People wonder if the Pearl Jam audience will get into The Buzzcocks. Eddie Vedder is a big Buzzcocks fan. He used to come to see Buzzcocks before he was in Pearl Jam. If his fans like what he likes, I guess that they might like The Buzzcocks.

We're making music to help people think and bring them together, that's our role; we're not siding with anybody

A lot of people [in the U.S.] used to say punk really didn't change anything, but I think it did. It was an intangible thing, not a visible thing. It took us through to a new phase of music and a way of seeing things.

I smoked 20 cigarettes to get that sound because I'd read that John Lennon smoked a load of cigarettes on "Twist and Shout".

When you're writing you're affected by everything that's going on around you.