It's taken folk a while to come around hasn't it? Even the boys in the band weren't too sure about the whole art thing. They just wanted me to concentrate on the music. But they respect it now.

I'm very conscious that I want the dance audience to respond and respect what I'm doing so I'm always very true to the music and I honour the music in the way I see it - I don't mess around with the music.

I just play the music that I love with musicians that I respect and fortunately I'm in a position where people are willing to play with me and perhaps I can do something to help them.

I work on words quite separately to music. They're both ongoing and I don't ever feel like I'm working in a cycle in that respect because it's every day anyway no matter what I'm doing. Then I get to a point when I've collected together enough words that seem like they want to be songs rather than poems or sometimes not.

Ragtime has about the same amount of respect as comics. And in a way they're similar art forms. Ragtime is highly compositional and the emotion in the music is built in whereas in jazz a lot of that emotion comes from the way it's performed.

I still don't understand the music industry that much. Everything I learned was from hanging out with rock musicians in studios. I certainly have respect for those who make music their livelihood.

House music is about love and lots of hip hop is about hate and intolerance so in that respect it's not good at all.

Someone's career that I admire would have to be Justin Timberlake's because he started off on Disney and he made this huge film career and huge solo music career. I really respect him as an artist.

I dress up a certain way because I respect the music.

In our culture we have such respect for musical instruments they are like part of God.

I refuse to step inside the ring and fight like a gladiator against my own. I'm not playing that game. Any woman who has survived a year or more of making music has my undying respect.

I have no confidence issues with the impact or the quality of the music. No one in hip-hop before this point and to this point with all due respect has done this.

Hip-hop is more about attaining wealth. People respect success. They respect big. They don't even have to like your music. If you're big enough people are drawn to you.

Plus you know when I was young there was a lot of respect for clowning in rock music - look at Little Richard. It was a part of the whole thing and I always also believed that it released the audience.

I respect country music because I feel like it's more about the talent and the songwriting and I put on a big show and we have a lot of stuff but I feel confident in myself enough as an artist and a singer that I can have all of those fun toys and know that we don't need all the bells and whistles either.

When I first came to Nashville people hardly gave country music any respect. We lived in old cars and dirty hotels and we ate when we could.

If we were all determined to play the first violin we should never have an ensemble. therefore respect every musician in his proper place.

What is normally called religion is what I would tend to call music - participating in music listening to music making records and singing.

I think that Sufism fits all over the world. The concept is not anything that fits standard Western ideas - it's always related to culture to music to religion. It is a dominant religion in Senegal.

I started listening to and playing other music in the '90s. It was after hearing other bands like Bad Religion cover Ramones songs that I started to like our songs again.

First play I ever did was 'Footloose.' I played the part of Willard when I was 16. I think I wore my drama teacher's jeans and her belt - that's how small I was. I know a lot of Willard's back story from the musical that's not explored in the film. Like he's got this whole relationship with his mama and he sings this song 'Mama Says.'

It was my first big relationship and it was just very abusive. I wouldn't give him the credit of naming him if he ever reads this. But he was older in the music business - or so he said.

My relationship with Music Row has always been from my end optimistic and hopeful that there is more than one way to approach the writing recording and marketing of an album.

I went through a phase when I was 13 where I would only fall in love with people over the age of 19 or 20. I never had a real relationship with any of these people but it was definitely the guy I wanted to hang out with and wanted to go on trips with. I would be like 'But Daddy he's a musician!'.