I think no matter how much you learn, there's always more to learn.
I wanted to be like my heroes, but I also wanted to be me.
If you can keep learning, you can still do your thing, and keep singing or whatever, and still do innovative things.
I was never good at copying. I was better at doing my own thing!
At age ten I switched to guitar, and I've loved the instrument ever since. And I love to practice. I just do. I just love guitar. It still brings a smile to my face!
People used to say, "Clapton is God." That was a phrase that people attributed to him, and he was a guitar hero back in his day. He chose a different path. And you can read about it, but he was really at the top of his game back then. I think he's one of the greatest rock players who've ever lived. His timing and everything was just so on.
Going on You Tube, you see a lot of my videos. And I'm glad; there's numbers there. And I get this all the time, that when I'm actually in concert, there's a whole new level to it. There's this whole new energy level. It's hard to describe. But I just love to play, and I never take it for granted.
I've had a very different career than a lot of other musicians. I went through the major labels. I was signed to two major labels and bands. I've toured with Aerosmith, and I've had records on the charts, songs in the movies. If you had checklist of things a person wants to accomplish in music...I've done a lot. And I don't mean that in an egotistical way; I never take it for granted. But you can't think outside the box unless you know what's in the box.
I can go to India and draw 20,000 people at a concert, and it's really because I've built up an internet presence.
I know what it's like being with a major label. But I've always wanted to do things differently. And when I found out that the internet was a digital medium that could transfer binary code, the 0s and 1s - which is what a CD is - I knew it was only a matter of time before the feed would be fast enough to transfer files.
