They're great songs. How many bands wouldn't like to have a 'Freebird' or 'Sweet Home Alabama' to play every night?
We didn't go for music that sounded like blues, or jazz, or rock, or Led Zeppelin, or Rolling Stones. We didn't want to be like any of the other bands.
When I was in college in Philly, there was a lot of post-punks... hardcore... like, rock. Sixties, retro, proto-Strokes kind of bands.
Good records - from my point of view, where I grew up which was Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull... bands that were pushing the envelope a little - musically and in production.
I definitely listened to country music. I don't think I listened to hair bands as much as I did Bruce Springsteen and U2 and Aerosmith.
Metallica is going to be one of those bands you look back on in the year 2008, that people will still listen to the way I still listen to Zeppelin and Sabbath albums.
I listened to a lot of bands that were happening at the time, but no one in particular.
I don't usually try to rely on songs to woo a girl, but I think Coldplay can get a girl in the mood... or make her cry, one or the other. I used to play in cover bands; we sure did our fair share of Coldplay. I like 'Viva La Vida.'
As far as the grunge thing, there are three bands from Seattle that I would call true grunge.
I think a lot of bands are creatively knackered when they come off tour.
Being in bands and plugging away with not many opportunities and no money for many years really shaped me and taught me about work ethic.
A lot of bands would be aching to be in the position we are.
It's the faster bands that made me want to play guitar, bands like The Jam.
I can show bands how to produce themselves. In the same way, many bands think you can't make it without some fat cat in London or New York to manage you. That's just crap. All you need is someone a bit older than you with a bit of business nous whom you trust.
I think now, more than anytime I can remember, bands are sounding pretty similar whether they're English or American, from Manchester or London... or Leeds or Welsh or Irish.
When I was very young, there was a lot of music at home, mostly jazz. I was walking around singing and pretending I was in bands from a very young age. But the first song that was really personal to me was 'Blue Suede Shoes'.
From activism to socialising to starting new bands, 99% of everything that happens on MySpace is fun and positive. But with that many people, there's going to be a few bad apples, which presents challenges.
My brother is the lifelong musician; he made the choice to do that when we were very, very young kids. I remember him playing in bands and listening to the music he was writing in the house - he's nine years older than me.
I'd actually been making my living as an organist with bands since I was probably 15 or 16 years old, and then as a senior in high school I put together a jazz quintet called The Bobby Mack Jazz Quintet.
I think that the old Mothers started that trend of rehearsing long hours. We went as long as the later bands did except we didn't get paid for it like they did.
To be appreciated by a whole 'nother generation of fans, all of a sudden discovering you, it's kind of what I did with the classic bands I love - the ones that influenced me.
I've played in bands with A-team players around. But unless they can play together, it doesn't do any good. And you can take guys who may not stand on their own up against a bunch of individuals they might be compared to, but you put 'em together, man, and they are unique unto themselves in a way that no one else can touch.
I played trumpet in the school bands. I learned things I liked to play on my trumpet, but I didn't learn why this note goes with this note and why it produces that sound. Or how to create tension in the composition.
Even as a kid, if I would come across something cool in the record store, that would be how I found out about bands. It's kind of the same way these days. In a way even less because there are no record stores to go to anymore.
In postscript let's just say that I am very fortunate cause I've gotten to work with a lot of great bands!
The pirating thing is bad. The people it hurts the most are the ones you least think it hurts. It's not the big Britney Spears albums that are being pirated; it's the indie bands that don't have two cents to their name.
The fact that you can't base a coffeehouse on any other rock band is the other rock bands' problem, not mine.
Bands today have to learn their craft by putting the hard work in that we did when we were young performers.
I've always worn jewellery but for a time it went out of fashion. Like grungy and punk bands didn't wear jewellery because it was stupid.
When I started playing in bands, we had to be apologetic for what we did. We had to be apologetic because the mainstream was so bad.
I never felt bad about being lumped in with other Seattle bands. I thought it was great.
Certainly, there are huge, multiplatinum bands whose singers command their audience's attention. Sadly, much of the time they have little to say.
I love doing stuff with Todd Barry and Jon Benjamin. We give the stage to good bands and funny people.
It's funny, when bands or younger musicians ask me: 'So, what does it take to make it?' Well, first explain to me what you mean by 'making it': Do you want to be a rock star or do you want music to be your livelihood?
We have an electronic vein we have tapped and applied it to a rock setting like tons of bands out there.
I hate bands that hang around, like, 10 years too long - they're like the drunk at a party you can't get rid of.