You know, The Beach Boys' image is kinda like a group Doris Day, you know what I mean?
We've always been just an American rock n' roll band.
The Ramones were American, and I knew about them, and I thought they were interesting. But they were like a pop band to me.
The best AC/DC cover I've heard? There was an all-girl cover band in America, the Hell's Belles.
When I first heard Kraftwerk, I thought they were an American band singing in German.
We got a chance to go and play in some places that the usual European tour by an American band didn't go to.
So, we went from being an Athens band to being a Georgia band to being a Southern band to being an American band from the East Coast to being an American band and now we're kind of an international phenomenon.
A Hawk and a Hacksaw may be from America, but the band's music sure isn't: Since the beginning, Eastern Europe has been an unwavering source of musical inspiration, not to mention fertile touring ground, for the group.
The Velvet Underground is probably the best band that's ever existed, assuredly the best American one.
But we're very much an American band and that's that. I think that's part of the appeal outside of this country and it might be part of the reason people turned away from us within this country, because familiarity breeds contempt.
