I've become completely well adjusted to being a cult figure.
I wouldn't want to hear Beethoven without beautiful bass, the cellos, the tuba. It's very important. Hip-hop has thunderous bass. And so does Beethoven. If you don't have the bass, it's like being amputated. It's like you have no legs.
I was a product of Andy Warhol's Factory. All I did was sit there and observe these incredibly talented and creative people who were continually making art, and it was impossible not to be affected by that.
How can anybody learn anything from an artwork when the piece of art only reflects the vanity of the artist and not reality?
You can't beat 2 guitars, bass, and drums.
You can't beat two guitars, bass, and drums.
Meditation doesn't have to be complicated. What I do is about as simple as you can get. You could just count the beads, one, two, three, with your eyes closed or open, whatever makes you happy.
I don't know what goes on in the crowd. I've had them show up and throw beer cans at me. I caused riots in most of the major cities.
I'm not joking around when I've said occasionally, trying to learn how to play a D chord properly has been a very big thing for me.
Music was what bothered me, what interested me.
I cleaned up my act because otherwise I would have kicked the bucket.
When I was in college, I had a jazz radio show. I called it 'Excursion on a Wobbly Rail,' after a Cecil Taylor song. I used to run around the Village following Ornette Coleman wherever he played.
I love Ornette Coleman. I love Don Cherry. I love the way those guys play.
People think that I work out but it's all t'ai chi.
One chord is fine. Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you're into jazz.
If it has more than three chords, it's jazz.
I always thought martial arts was the most modern choreography we could have right now, and I always wanted to put it to music.
I don't mind a repetitive chorus; I mind repetitive verse. I mean, it's the same amount of space. Why would you have only three diamonds if you can have six?
I don't think anybody is anybody else's moral compass. Maybe listening to my music is not the best idea if you live a very constricted life. Or maybe it is.
I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any attention at all. Sometimes it's me, or a composite of me and other people. Sometimes it's not me at all.
