I was really running a music school back then, because my band wasn't making any money. I keep talking about money, because most people don't understand the part of money in running a band.
When I think about [characters], I like to think of them in their relationships to each other. In the same way, I think that's how humans are ultimately defined. We are our relationships to one another. And a lot of what's interesting about us happens in the context of other people.
People are running, running, but there is no place in the world to which they can flee to escape themselves. Ultimately, each one must face himself.
When people ask what I write about, that's what I tell them: 'The drama of human relationships.' I'm not even close to running out of material.
No way, because there's love relationships, there's sex relationships and then there's the band.
If you were to ask me, “What the hell does a musician have in common with a restaurant?” I would say a huge amount. It’s showtime every day, it’s a team of people, like, running a circus, which is running a rock-and-roll band.
If you were to ask me, 'What the hell does a musician have in common with a restaurant?' I would say a huge amount. It's show time every day, it's a team of people, like, running a circus, which is running a rock-and-roll band.
We went from being thought of and talked about as "a band that plays a so-and-so style of music" (a grunge band, a stoner band, etc) to "a band that plays music with a certain sensibility or style to it". I'm not able to see quite what that is, but it's there and some people like it a lot.
There's a big difference between a movie about relationships and a movie in which people talk about relationships. It seems like a lot of people have confused the two.
I am a Yes fan, ultimately. I've been a member of the band, but I was always a fan of the band first.
Hopefully people can look at our band and see that we're a heavy rock band. We're definitely not a metal band, but we're a band that focuses on meaningful lyrics and melody.
One of the most important lessons to learn about relationships is that it is not another person’s job to make you happy. Your happiness is not someone else’s job. Until you realize this, you will always be dissatisfied with your relationships. Ultimately, your relationship with others mirrors your relationship to happiness.
We care about equality and democracy within the band and outside the band. For us life is about cooperation and solidarity, not about egotism, greed, or competition. This means that we prefer to work with people and bands that have a similar sort of mentality and attitude.
It's fine to be on the hamster wheel, running and running, trying to grab the brass ring or whatever you define as success, but your relationships, that's really all that matters when it's all said and done.
We still talk about [school band]. Almost 40 years later. It's like people are talking about, "Man we need to have a morning band reunion".
'War and Peace' is about relationships: family relationships, loving relationships, relationships at war... it's a really young story as well.