I really had a great time working with Modest Mouse, just because of the people. I loved writing songs with Isaac Brock, and Jeremiah Green is probab….

Now chart music is a genre all of its own and it's slipped away from what I understand pop music as. It's pretty difficult to take; it clogs up the a….

Guitars have been the obsession of my life. I first picked one up at the age of four and Ive been a guitar junkie ever since..

I am very proud of the fact that 20 years on people tell me they became a vegetarian as a result of 'Meat is Murder'. “I think that is quite literal….

I had a feeling about what I wanted to say, and I wasn't really qualified to discuss real things out of America because I didn't grow up there..

I seem to attract and be attracted to very willful, fascinating people..

You've got to understand that. We all look out for Morrissey. It's a very brotherly feeling. When we first rehearsed, I'd have done anything for him.….

I think one of the things about being around for a while and getting to know yourself is that when you do have these positive experiences, you don't ….

Coming from a working-class background, where my father did manual labor, was a good grounding; I was obsessed with getting a job or getting out of t….

The reason I don't drink is that the drinking lifestyle robs me of my musical intensity and sharpness. I live a super-healthy lifestyle not because i….

I moved to Portland because Modest Mouse is there. I didn't necessarily mean to live there permanently, but I've got a really good feeling for it. Th….

I've run all the bands I've been in. A great front man needs that other person. It's not enough to have a guy with a cute face standing behind a micr….

Sometimes people confuse contrivance and authenticity, and sometimes I think authenticity can get in the way of a good excuse to do something theatri….

Some cities are really boring and straight..

The biggest musical influence on me was my mum. We were both enraptured by music..

I find this kind of folk with guys in Wellington boots and washboards not good to listen to. That music is one step away from barn dancing as far as ….

People say to me, 'Do you dye your hair?' and I say, 'Well, does f**king Siouxsie Sioux? Does Bowie?'. Of course I'm going to have a decent haircut. ….

Growing up in public is a test, and not many people know how to do it..

When Morrissey and I started The Smiths, we thought pop music was the most important thing in the world. It was almost a spiritual thing for us, and ….

Occasionally, a great band would come along, like Blondie or OutKast who could be pop and bring interesting ideas into the mainstream at the same tim….

In the earlier part of the 90s, I was really hell-bent on discovering how new technology works and how to make records entirely without a producer, w….