I am very rich because of 'Chic' - artistically as well as spiritually. It's been an amazing life.
Almost all the producers I know and dig, like Quincy Jones or Brian Eno, are really musicians first. I'm a composer, an orchestrator, an arranger and a musician first. I know how to write and rewrite songs, and the genius is really in the rewriting.
It was actually my partner, Bernard Edwards, who helped me develop my sort of funky jazz style.
My childhood was bittersweet in many ways. We moved around a lot. By the time I was 10, I had travelled thousands of miles, often on my own. My parents were like my friends, so it felt like I didn't really have parents at all. But in a crazy way that was very liberating. It forced me to be independent, maybe a leader, and certainly a survivor.
When people tell you you're on the brink of death, you've got to dig pretty deep to get it together.
I've never cancelled any public appearance, simply because that's what my life is; it's doing my work, and I never want to stop doing my work unless it becomes impossible for me to do it.
I used to play flute and clarinet at school, and although I wasn't thinking about making a living or getting a pay cheque, I already knew I was going to play music all my life.
Art is something that opens up and enhances your emotions and that's what I like to think I'm doing.
Music is the one part of the entertainment business where you can't fool anybody into buying a record.
If I could live in one city and do every single thing I do there, I would choose Venice. You can't turn your head without seeing something amazing.
I love Madonna! If you want to see the Madonna I know, just go on YouTube and you'll see those early interviews before the record came out. She was giddy and wonderful and giggly and happy and so excited looking towards the future.
Art, well good art at least, takes you to a place you go during the experience of it, and then after you experience it you are different.
Every record I have done was because I was a person's friend. The only time we did not continue to be friends was if the record did not become a hit. If it did, we became great friends.
I don't believe in the philosophy of stumbling across hit records.
I've had insomnia since I was five years old. I just don't require much sleep. I'm never tired.
I was a fan of the Marx Brothers. One of them had this character where he pretended not to be able to talk, but then he wrote this autobiography called 'Harpo Speaks!' He wrote about how he quit school at nine years old to become a professional.
The only person I have regrets about is Miles Davis. He and I had become good friends after we did a photo shoot, and coincidentally, we kept running into each other at parties and stuff. I regret not having written a hit for Miles Davis.
I would play hooky from school and spend all day in the movie theaters. Consequently, I learned satire in all its subtle forms.
With Sumthin Else Music Works, I wanted to spread the love and give newcomers a chance to make it because something that really helped me were all the people who had given me an opportunity when I was putting my career together.
I'd probably be a super wealthy guy if I had sat around writing songs and getting them placed like everyone else I know. But I write songs about people or after I meet them and they're somewhat biographical - they're fiction but also non-fiction.
