Rock music is being systematically merged with fashion.
We've been allowed to operate unmolested on the fringes of the music scene, really. That's where we enjoy it most.
What gets people into trouble with records now is that they want to build something up without substantial musical ideas. Without that as a foundation, you can add all the layers of sound you want - it's still going to sound like a mess.
There was a time in my life when one aspect of my lifestyle called for watching a lot of television.
'8 Miles to Pancake Day' is a reconciliation of the classic space-time dilemma.
I guess actually playing on the records and touring is a great forced practice regimen for me. And you learn a lot playing with people.
I spent a couple of years not doing any music or anything, just here in Hawaii trying to get healthy and adjust to the new regimen I was setting up for myself.
I'm a self-taught musician aside from what I've been able to pick up from other players.
I always look for the weirdest note to land on. I felt that that was the least I could do for the great musical traditions which I've spawned.
You can't always count on the devices, attitudes, and conceits that stood you in good stead in 1972 or 1973, or 1978-79, to still have the same impact all these years later.
Most of the time when people say something sounds like Steely Dan, and I listen to it, it doesn't. And I'm not even sure what they're talking about.
If there's a strange way to do something, I would certainly like to know about it. I feel that I owe that to my public.
My primary influences were the best jazz players from the 50's and 60's and later some of the pop people from the same time period along with the better of the well known blues musicians.
It was the 'Gaucho' album that finished us off. We had pursued an idea beyond the point where it was practical. That album took about two years, and we were working on it all of that time - all these endless tracking sessions involving different musicians. It took forever, and it was a very painful process.
We try to write things that work on a variety of levels at the same time: A sleek exterior with a turbulent lyric.
The more of what our music does violates the premise of its format that it's presented in, the better. So, hearing our music in the supermarket, a Muzak version, is great.
Some places you play in America, it's like 'On the Waterfront.'