I've never had a problem with drugs. I've had problems with the police.
The thing about being a songwriter, once you realize you are one, is that to provide ammo, you start to become an observer. ... You're constantly on the alert. That faculty gets trained in you over the years: observing people, how they react to one another, which in a way makes you weirdly distant. ... It's a little of Peeping Tom, being a song-writer.
Some people think I'm a mythical genius, others think I'm a junkie madman.
I mean, give me a guitar, give me a piano, give me a broom and string, I wouldn't get bored anywhere.
I don't like to go into the studio with all the songs worked out and planned before hand ... you've got to give the band something to use its imagination on as well. That can make a very ordinary song come alive into something totally different ... the X-factor - so important in rock and roll - which is the feel.
