You didn't have to be a huge rock star; you just had to do well enough to continue doing what you wanted to do. It wasn't about hitting the jackpot, it was about sustainability.

Just as not all popular albums are wonderful, not all wonderful albums are popular.

Bon Jovi's trick is to use heavy-metal chords and still sound absolutely safe. Rock & roll used to be rebellion disguised as commercialism; now so much of it is commercialism disguised as rebellion.

Now that the generation that grew up on '80s indie-rock has attained influential positions in the culture, that music is the new yardstick. And that will shift yet again some day.

I really believe in the power of music - and I mean literally the power of musical tones - to rearrange the way you can think.

Naturally, no one knows more about music than musicians. They talk about their own work all the time, but they rarely get to talk about other people's music.

There's no glamour in Nirvana, no glamour at all, in fact.

There's a whole apparatus for indie bands now, but back in the eighties it was just getting built. The early people really took it on the chin.

Nine Inch Nails' sound is dominated by clanging synths and sardonic, shrieking vocals.

I have this theory, bands with enigmatic lyrics attract crazies.

As a journalist, I'm not supposed to be the subject, but as an author, I'm fair game - another ingredient in the media soup.

Back at home I spent so much time on my own, but never once felt lonely. Here, even though I see hundreds more people each day, I've never felt lonelier.

The door opens with a rusted jingle, and an animatronic Santa insults my moral virtue three times. Ho, ho, ho.

Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.

...The greatest rapper of all time died on March 9th. God bless his soul, rest in peace, kid. It's because of him now at least I know what beef is.

Fundamentally, I have no idea how the world works, though I am trying to figure it out.

If you fall into water, you may still be saved. But if you fall down in literary matters, there is no life left for you.

I regretted making a comment about Dave Eggers. I’ve never said anything about McSweeneys except that I admire what it is, and I think it’s great that they keep people interested in literature.

It's still the White House exploding [in "Independence Day"]. It was just so provocative, and no one had ever done it before. I remember when we shot it, how everyone was excited.

If there is one thing I can't stand, it is stupidity. I always say that stupidity is the Sin against the Holy Ghost.

The times are very bad. Very well, you are there to make them better.