I think Paul McGuinness and U2 created the Irish music industry. It certainly wasn't there before that.

Jazz comes from a tradition where it swings. Swing was the main ingredient of jazz. And once it loses the swing...well, that's it.

I was all caught up with identifying with certain things. They just weren't very stimulating things.

See the man on the TV with a phony smile. Bring you up, bring you down, he can turn your head around.

J.P. Donleavy - now he's one writer I am consistent with. He's written books that I can definitely connect with. He has amazing insights which other people missed out on. Even with his descriptions of Northern Ireland.

There's no man alive who has any answers. We all know that. It's like the guru trip. All a guru can do is direct you to something that you probably already know about yourself, something you might want to followup on. Apply the same thing to music and records. You might get something from a particular record that hits a nerve and something inside you. But that's your vision of it.

I felt kind of bored at the prospect of writing some more of my own songs because I really wasn't saying what I wanted to say.