It’s a cruel, heartless world out there in commercial rock ‘n’ roll, and when you take as much time off as we did, eight years, booking agents don’t know if you’ll draw.

We had our unhappy moments but they got channelled into the kind of sadness that was necessary for singing a song about going nowhere. So it worked out very well I think.

Even the Beatles found it hard to escape their image; they were trapped by it.

You learn just as much from your failures. Sometimes you love your failures even more.

We’re not getting paid. We have these great musicians with us and it gives us a real charge. And the audience gives us a charge, because they keep it interesting all the time.

I have respect for those who make money at art and do it well and smartly, because that commercial aspect keeps the world going and running, in a sense.

Art is not predictable. Art is not golf, as great as that may be. There are 360 degrees of choice to make.

We don’t always know what we’re doing. We often just get excited, put something down, and say, ‘Oh, neat’.

I don’t want to wreck my voice. I love to concentrate on playing the bass and keeping it very rock-solid. If I were singing, I would have blown out my voice.

David is purely a conceptual artist. He didn’t play any instruments or paint or anything. We were painters.

Sometimes you don’t want to be a slapstick clown in order to convey a funny perception of the world.

When Talking Heads started, we called ourselves Thinking Man’s Dance Music.

Sometimes, you have to go through a phase whether you like it or not.

I think the idea of having the show divided into two parts was that Tom Tom Club opened for Talking Heads in Europe, and it was the best we’d ever had as an opening act.

We always thought the Tom Tom Club could change to anything, but it acquired this image, which was cartoon animation and this real light-hearted dance music.

If you have this passion for music, you don’t stop doing it – it chooses you and doesn’t release you.

I like the idea of Wild Infancy, of people who have a deprived background, of starting out wild.

Make it, not make it? What’s the difference? Music is a language, it’s a dance of life, and it can be a part of your life without being something that earns.

Many Japanese painters and calligraphers would change their names intentionally to keep their relationship to the art always fresh. This way, others’ expectations can be avoided.

It’s just such a pleasure to bring a talent you respect to the world.

When we were making Speaking in Tongues and Remain in Light, we were jamming. From that we were taking the best bits and then recording and improvising on top of those.

Stick to your instincts.

I would really love to work with Paul McCartney. Isn’t that arrogant?

We groove off of everything, any sort of live show. The inner dialogue you’re having with yourself, between you and the music, is for me the search for God.

We don’t really have more than acouple of solos. It’s just the way our music is put together.

I play bass. I don’t have to go out there and screech.

Richard Lloyd of Television is one of my favorite guitarists. His mentor was Jimi Hendrix when he was just 14. Jimi was always pounding everything he knew into that kid.

It’s a cruel, heartless world out there in commercial rock ‘n’ roll, and when you take as much time off as we did, eight years, booking agents don’t know if you’ll draw.

It’s hard to be perfect, It really is. I keep learning things after I’ve already bungled it.

Talking Heads, for me and Chris, was a very personal thing that we shared with a lot of people. In a way, I’m glad it’s over, because it allows us to move beyond the restrictions that followed.

I wasn’t originally a bass player. I just found out I was needed, because everyone wants to play guitar.