After I did the solo acoustic tour last year, I felt like I was in a position to start working with people again. I think the shroud of Husker Du was finally laid to rest, and people who wanted to were able to hear those songs for what was probably the last time. So having personally cleared the slate, it just seemed like a good idea to get some people together. |
Helping to put together five hours of live TV every week is not easy! |
How do I explain Neil Young? Great question! I explain Neil Young as, I would kill to see his acoustic shows. |
I can be difficult. I'll be the first to admit to that. I try! I try to Clint Black. |
I don't like the dislocation of being away for months at a time. It's not conducive to having a life. |
I just needed some time to get away from it. I was just tired of it. Tired of being the rock guitar guy. After 20 years of it, I just sort of hit the wall. Yeah, I know that's my bread and butter so to speak, that's my ace card. In my position I was watching a lot of-with the risk of sounding egotistical-lesser quality people doing a lot better with my sound. |
I think also there was a lot of coming to terms with where I am in life, where I fit in as a gay man in America, and getting more comfortable with who I am. |
I think same-sex marriage is an issue that won't be settled soon, nor will the need to change public perception fade away next year. |
I used to live too much of my life worrying about what other people thought, ... My dark and introspective life was solitary. It was valid, (but now) I finally feel like I have a family. I'm integrated. My friends are really important to me, and they have a lot to do with why this record is so (expletive) cool. |
I was a lifelong fan and a student of the wrestling business. When I got the call to come over as a consultant for that, to help with the production of a regular TV show, I was floored. It was a dream come true, like managing a football team would be for some people or whatever. |
It's gotten really blurry, ... When you ask, 'Are we creating a genre?' I don't know. We're just creating a party. I went to a gay bar in L.A. a few weeks ago and they were playing Interpol's 'Slow Hands.' A quarter of the guys were singing along, and there was some sort of kinky scene happening. I was like, 'This is really cool.' It's what I've been telling my record company all along: We need to promote those remixes to DJs, because the worlds aren't that far apart, anymore. |
Maybe if I get off the road and stop playing with punk rock bands, there'll be a lot more records. It would probably involve me getting out of the conventional music business as we know it and heading more towards a self-sufficient, self-structured release-type thing. I wouldn't expect a regular label to keep up with the amount of stuff that I've got, or the amount of stuff I would have if I could just sit in a room and just write music. |
That song was definitely about somebody going back in the closet, |
The best scenario is where people support the artist directly. We're a ways from that yet-if people can get it for free, why would they pay? |
The blues is something separate from what I do. They connect at certain spots, but blues is different. I wouldn't put it in with what my career has been. That would be a whole separate wing. |