I first heard the fabulous P J with her powerful Sheela Na Gig. What a song!! She had that visceral power that I get with some Patti Smith stuff. Dry – what an album!
You can hear the Beefheart!
I decide immediately if I like a person and if I do, then I’m myself, and if I don’t, then I give nothing.
I do that too. I have to meet them face to face.
Making me into a role model is placing too much importance on what I see as a work in progress.
I’m a role model.
My mother and father are very involved with music. It’s completely part of their soul. They have an incredible record collection, all vinyl, of some of the best artists, in my eyes, that you can come across.
A record collection is as important as food.
People like Howlin’ Wolf, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, John Lee Hooker, Nina Simone, Captain Beefheart – all of these artists were what I grew up listening to every day of my life. And there’s a very healthy music scene in the west country of England, where I grew up.
All that’s missing is the Roy Harper, Elmore James, Phil Ochs, Doors, Eels ………..
I tried to use words that were dealing with the emotional quality that any human being could recognize in the way that they felt about their country. It’s to do with the world we live in. That world is a brutal one and full of war. It’s also full of many wonderful things and love and hope.
I still cling to the love and hope. It will win over the hate.
I’ve always felt that I’m affected by the world, by the way we treat each other, by the way different countries treat each other.
Me too. We could be so much better. We never learn.
Well, I don’t really concern myself too much with what other people make of my work.
You can’t. You write for yourself. You share it in hope. Ultimately you are your own judge.