It's funny when bands or younger musicians ask me: 'So what does it take to make it?' Well first explain to me what you mean by 'making it': Do you want to be a rock star or do you want music to be your livelihood?

You know fame is a funny thing man especially you know actors musicians rappers rock singers it's kind of a lifestyle and it's easy to get caught up in it - you go to bars you go to clubs everyone's doing a certain thing... It's tough.

Maybe a part of me recognized how right the improvising spirit of jazz is. Not the sounds but the freedom to work with musicians who work that way. It felt very natural to me but I think there's a way to do it without it being a jazz record.

Jazz stands for freedom. It's supposed to be the voice of freedom: Get out there and improvise and take chances and don't be a perfectionist - leave that to the classical musicians.

My wife Elizabeth and I started The Really Terrible Orchestra for people like us who are pretty hopeless musicians who would like to play in an orchestra. It has been a great success. We give performances we've become the most famous bad orchestra in the world.

You've got certain guys that just want to be famous and then you've got the real musicians that just love playing music.

Like family we are tied to each other. This is what all good musicians understand.

Visible Faith is an expression of my Christian faith which must be visible to be real! I gave the name to the collection of musicians who worked with me on the record.

Once you're in a particular country and you're surrounded by musicians who are so adept at traditional music you suddenly realize how much there is to explore and digest and learn and experience.

I have such happy memories of performing in a choir and I don't think I'd have got where I am today without all that experience. So my advice to young singers is to either join your school or church's choir or find one in your local area. Choral music at any level teaches you so much about musicianship and blending your voice.

Historically musicians know what it is like to be outside the norm - walking the high wire without a safety net. Our experience is not so different from those who march to the beat of different drummers.

Session musicians kind of respected me because what I was talking about made sense. That all came from an education. Believe me education does you more good. Maybe that's the reason I've been around so long.

My training as an engineer has enabled me to design the stuff but the reason I do it is not to make music but for the opportunity to work with musicians.

Some musicians I know are incredible fathers. Like Keith Richards. A fantastic dad.

My dad took me to all the best rock and punk shows when I was growing up and music has always been a part of my life. So I'm very interested in the music scene and I suppose that's why I've ended up going out with musicians. Dave Pirner is still one of my best friends.

I remember once we got an interview and he said 'Dad these people are writing about me like I'm an adult. Don't they know I'm a kid?' I have never tried to encourage him to get a music image like other musicians have.

Although my dad was a doctor we weren't necessarily a super-artsy family. We were just a classic traditional family who got to take a lot of piano lessons and became a bunch of musicians.

My dad's side of the family had lots of artists and musicians. There's an emotional quite sentimental quality to Slavic culture. It's very open it loves art it loves music it loves literature. It's very warm it's very up it's very down. I would celebrate that.

I don't really know any other musicians like me. I grew up backstage with my dad who played in a post-war dance band so I always feel at home at a venue.

THE GODS was my first professional band and I learned a lot during that time. It was very cool playing with so many great musicians as it helped me to learn.

Most of the musicians that I know almost to the man everybody uses Apple computers. They've thought of the steps that you're going to think of when you're trying to create your thing. And that's where the tools get invented to make better art.

Musicians and journalists are the canaries in the coalmine but eventually as computers get more and more powerful it will kill off all middle-class professions.

I happen to think that computers are the most important thing to happen to musicians since the invention of cat-gut which was a long time ago.

There is no roles. No one is keeping any roles. The drummer is also answering everybody and everything. So it is a constant conversation and communication between musicians on an extremely high level with extremely valuable material motifs and melodies.