The environment of San Francisco has so much history to it that I really appreciate. Musically, socially, and culturally. There's this new culture of people; it's a crazy place to be.
These musicians, such as these Cubans in Havana, are a part of a scene that did produce great music and great musicians. They came from this tradition, so it's a good place to look. It's like prospecting: You gotta know where to look.
Of course when people are as talented as Jim O'Rourke or Gene Coleman, pretty soon you know that they're going to be part of the bigger scene anyway.
Chicago gave me more music than any other city in America.
Glasgow's not a media center. When you're there, when you're hanging about, you feel quite detached from musical movements or fashions or anything like that. You do feel quite alone, in a good way.
Every musical scene has a cycle.
Any city that's worth a dang certainly has a musical heartbeat, a culture, and a scene that can stand on its own.
Detroit is full of talent.
But I did that, and I created another blues scene, another something I can sing about.
I cut the scene out, but there was a moment where Christoph Waltz plays the piano in 'Django [Unchained]' - Jamie [Foxx] is a magnificent piano-player but there's never a moment where Django plays the piano.
I think in the world of indie music there's this sort of false modesty.
I think that the world is full of really, really good musicians, but that's not necessarily my motivation for having people involved. It's more how they contribute to the scene as a person.
