We never considered ourselves part of the goth thing.
You get paid and you get venerated and worshipped for pretending to be somebody else.
Peace on earth and good will toward men – that is something we need to work on. Like Nelson Mandela, we should learn from him.
I didn’t join a band. I didn’t start a band. I got asked to do it. It kinda happened by accident.
What is the popular image of rock star? A rail-thin, overly-paid, narcissistic, average-talented individual who self-implodes in front of everybody, eternally having a party and who looks eternally youthful?
The days are usually filled with nonsense and every now and again somebody flies by the circus to party on your dime.
I do know that there is a difference between artists who are career-driven and artists who have a calling and are just compelled to make music, compelled to perform live, and the business isn’t the reason they’re doing it. In fact, there isn’t really a reason. You just do it.
What I consider to be the barometer for what is a rock artist and what is not, is somebody who has a certain element of blues, even a hint of soul or blues music, derivative of African-American blues, folk, spiritual, or gospel.
Occasionally I like a really good pair of shoes. A pair of leather shoes from Gieves & Hawkes in England, Buckshot Brogue, they look really sick.
I think the thing that would interest me would be to appear in a period piece where you’d get to dress in an elaborate costume and say nothing but just look fabulous and have a fancy role.
When you look at men’s fashion magazines, you see a lot of well-groomed guys in suits, but very rarely do you see a lot of guys in drop-crotch and hoods with high-tops. It’s coming, though, because guys in suits and short hair are beginning to look like they’re from another time.
I don’t objectify myself. I hate looking at pictures of myself, they’re usually awful.
I work at my life and I cultivate myself and don’t spend six hours in a gym. Some people would say I should but why?
I used to make all my clothes when I was in Southern Death Cult [the first incarnation of The Cult]. I still make things to wear on stage and I am involved with sketching, choosing fabric, cutting.
I celebrate the spirit of Christmas. It’s the winter solstice celebration, rebirth and new possibilities.
Usually when I see Matthew [McConaughey] at a show, he’ll be down in front with his shirt off with two beers just going mental, lit up and having an amazing time.
I think there’s a lot of people who are afraid to experiment with clothing because they’re afraid to get judged or ridiculed.
I admire Chris Martin. Coldplay have made some wonderful records for the genre they’re involved in, but I would consider them to be more of a pop act. The music is much more cerebral than it is animalistic.
That’s a real sign of the times – can you imagine Nick Cave wearing a hoodie? He may not wear one, but he definitely sells them.
I wasn’t pursuing a musical career or anything. It just happened and then it was there.
I write all the time. The wonderful thing about having a cell phone is that if I get an idea, I knock it out and it’s in my phone and I can transfer it to my computer and go into the studio and bring it up.
Hollywood has this incredible ability to make a lot of noise.
I had a great conversation with Trent Reznor. Trent said, “I’d have a sixpack, too, if I didn’t write my own music!”
You come out of a working-class environment, you know, working-class kids always put them themselves together because it’s one of the only things they had. You had control of your image.
If you want to go put on a bathrobe and go walk down the street, excellent. I think it’s more about trying to get an individual style than trying to get a uniform look.
