I would just listen to records and learn what I could, then just roll it over and over and over.

Music drives you. It wakes you up, it gets you pumping. And, at the end of the day, the correct tune will chill you down.

When I tried to play something and screwed up, I'd hear some other note that would come into play. Then I started trying different things to find the beauty in it.

My old man was a musician - that's what he did for a living. And like most fathers, occasionally he'd let me visit where he worked. So I started going to his recording studio, and I really dug it.

The worst advice I ever received from my dad was to play by the book.

Musicians tend to get bored playing the same thing over and over, so I think it's natural to experiment.

If you improvise a riff and the crowd immediately reacts to it, you know you're on to something.

It kills me when I see some metal band trying to pass themselves off as an 'alternative band.

Lessons didn't really work out for me, so I went to the old school, listening to records and learning what I wanted to learn.

I'm not saying I wouldn't play a seven-string. It's just that I've never needed one. Most dudes who play seven-strings don't sound any different than someone playing a six-string that's tuned down.

To get my sound in the studio, I double guitar tracks, and when it gets to the lead parts, the rhythm drops out, just like it's live. I'm very conscious of that.

You have to live each hour as if it's your last and each day as if you were immortal. - Kate Sheffield

Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.

Always remember that somebody is praying for the opportunity that you have.

Despite my extremely modest prices, dealers and art lovers are turning their backs on me. It is very depressing to see the lack of interest shown in an art object which has no market value.

What I said about John was that he liberated me from my anxieties about writing in a correct, acceptable way.

I still feel like a novice when it comes to classical theater, but I don't ever want to become comfortable with anything. The greatest creativity comes from being nervous and uncomfortable.

You'll be tested every single day.

I get inspired with passion, I think. I get inspired by people who are just passionate, and it doesn't matter what they do or what they're passionate about.

Have confidence in your ability to do it right, and work hard to do the best possible job.

HBO and I have a deal to at least try to make a television series from the Leonid McGill stories. We're going to start with the first novel, 'The Long Fall'.