My high-school dream was to be in a band, pay my rent and eat - and I've been able to do that for 20 years. So I'm completely content.
See, to me, rock'n'roll doesn't have any point. It's just fun. It has a million different angles and they're all valid. But I think rock might be a world issue.
I know so many songs. I'm like a walking karaoke torture machine.
A lot of what you do is about how you look. You're a good-looking guy who plays music, and you can't do anything about what happens because of that. If people say, "He's cute. I'm going to go buy his album," hopefully they'll like the music, too.
I don't write down my experiences, but I have a very decent memory. I have tons of books in which I write down phrases as they occur to me. That's how I write songs. I'll need a line and I'll go through the books and find it, the right rhyme and everything.
I lie around and play guitar, that's something I do for sure. In fact that's all I do, I think.
Rock stars wanting to write is even worse than wanting to act in movies, right?
So many times I thought to myself, man, I never want to do drugs again. But I would never sacrifice any experience I've ever had on them, and I am not remorseful that I've done them. I would like to get more and more away from drugs.
It's better when you have your wife with you, more fun.
When I was 14 years old, I was a huge fan of the Velvets, the Stooges and the Modern Lovers. They are my three favourite bands. I never get sick of 'em.
When there are no women on the tour it can get awful and ugly - constant horrible jokes and gross behaviour. It needs to be leavened with a feminine presence.
I really didn't study any music. I just picked it up real quick.
I used to have a sort of spiky haircut and it just feels better to have short hair again.
I need the money. People don't understand how little money you make in a band.
When I write a song, it's all about the riff - the riff first, then the words come later.
I get to see the world and try to make people happy. I'm very much of a wandering spirit, if you'll pardon the expression.
You know more about me than I do about myself, that's probably true.
CDs, too. Totally corporate. They look real cheap and soulless and they don't smell of anything.
For me, it's all about The Dubliners by James Joyce. I love The Dead.
I'll always be making music. I'd like to do it my whole life - although I also love words and want to write short stories. But right now, my songs are kind of my short stories.
Since Elizabeth, I certainly live a healthier lifestyle.
I've got time, I hope, to make lots of quiet records. So quiet you won't be able to hear them.
I'd forgotten what it was like to play music and have it be fun so I decided to stop. I wasn't even sure if I was going to make a new record, I was just kinda quitting.
I guess I'm about ready to promote myself in a more human way. I don't feel quite so insecure.
I was hanging out with Jonathan Richman last night.
