I'm always being asked if I watch 'The X Factor,' and I do from time to time. I know it makes for great TV and that Simon Cowell has a real gift.
People need to put my music in a perspective where they use other established artists from the past, and almost all the names I see related to my music are great musicians.
I've always been extremely lucky in playing with great people who knew much more than I did. That's how I got from there to here.
I think movies are a director's medium in the end. Theater is the actor's medium. Theater is fast, and enjoyable, and truly rewarding. I believe in great live performance.
I think as long as people are around and can hear a record and hear people like Lester Young on a recording, there will always be a great inspiration for somebody to try to create jazz.
That was when Neil discovered Jack Nietzsche. They went off and pretty much came up with that by themselves, but I thought it was a great song, and I was more than happy to do my harmony parts on it.
Occasionally, when I run into a great bass backstage at a festival I'll play a few notes on the low E string, just to feel the instrument vibrate against my belly.
I was taught to think the next week or month or year will only get better than it is today. So I just keep waiting to see how great it will get!
I have a great interest in a number of things, perhaps too many. I admire people who seem to concentrate on only one fixed discipline to the exclusion of almost everything else.
I know I'm not Freddie Mercury or Ann Wilson, and that's okay. You don't have to be a great singer to sing rock and roll. That's not what it's about.
Joe Jackson is a great man. The problem that people have with my father is that he tells it like it is. He's just straight up and doesn't beat around the bush. Tough love.
Music is like a really sacred, awesome thing. That first 45 minutes to two hours that you're on stage spending time with music every night is always really great.
I think that's one of the great things about the Pittsburgh Steelers - we're not a big free-agent team. We build guys up through our system to have a better understanding of our defense.
It's great if you can afford to carry a string section on the road with you, but most people are used to the idea of just a keyboard player creating those string sounds.
I'm a great believer in the character of a club. To me, character has a lot to do with how you compete. That creates urgency and toughness. That elevates the talent that you have.
I've watched with a kind of wary eye how gaming has progressed. I was there at the beginning with Pong in the arcade, and a lot of my great childhood memories were around a 'Tempest' machine.
I was excited by the process of Pandora, which I still think is a decent product. Not as great in actuality as it sounds. After the first hour, its weaknesses start to show up.
It's one thing to sit back and say, 'Hey let's play a club, that will be great,' but then you get there and say, 'Hey wait, this is the dressing room? Where's my dressing room?'
I heard 'Get Lucky'; it's just not my taste. It's great what Daft Punk does and the sound quality is great, but that whole disco vibe is not really my thing.
I definitely consider myself extremely blessed to have great partners in endorsing products. It's not about being on billboards. I endorse something because I believe in it.
'SpongeBob SquarePants' is a great show, and it centers on a character that is courageously nice. Why is SpongeBob interesting? It's because he has passion. He has a passion for chasing jellyfish.
