Broadway musicals, where you sing the whole time, I really don't like; I like alternating dialogue and music.
I like my song-sequences in my movies, but one of the things I like about them, is I get in and I get out.
Most of the music I've listened to or grew up listening to - a lot of it at least - is instrumental stuff.
Teaching has made me realize that a lot of my fast playing is the musical equivalent of, 'Umm… umm… uhh...' - it's like when you're trying to think of the next thing to say that actually has meaning, you fill space. 'Umm' has about the same meaning as my fast playing.
Performing music is a way to do comedy, but without the obligation to do a solid hour, hour and half of a standup. I could intersperse it with music, so it became a really good format for me.
If a song is longer than three and a half minutes, it'll need something to keep you entertained.
I think with musicals, it's much more part of the script. They don't want songs that would stop the show; they need songs that keep the plot moving.
You know, if you look all my stuff... If you go back to 'Saturday Night Live,' my stuff always has music, even a bunch of my comedy stuff - like in 'Shrek,' the donkey is always singing. Music is always there.
I grew up with Western films, and I always wondered why Bollywood never made films like that. Why do we always have to break into song?
On stage, generally speaking, the story is stopped or held back by songs, because that's the convention. Audiences enjoy the song and the singer, that's the point.
I've always thought people would find a lot more pleasure in their routines if they burst into song at significant moments.
That's the way I've always been, between the albums: For two- or three-year gaps I wouldn't pick up a guitar. And when I don't pick up a guitar for a year or two, that's when the songs fall out.
