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It isn't necessary to be an untouchable rock-icon guy surrounded by bodyguards and be ushered in and out and have everyone do everything for you. It isn't necessary to change the way you present your band to the public just because you're successful. That happened a lot in the '80s: there was a school of thought that said people would like you more if you acted like you were the unattainable star.
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Obviously, I want my kids to be happy, and I believe that they can be super successful at whatever they want to do, but don't make the successful part more important than the process of doing it. Especially if it's an artistic endeavor.
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When I did the solo acoustic tour in 2010, I fell in love with that kind of performance.
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The focus on my wife and my children, it really helps me make sense of the music side of it somehow.
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No, I thing that's the worst f**king thing. I mean, can you imagine having to get up at 4am and sit in a trailer while someone puts makeup on you? Then stand in front of a camera and say the same lines 60 times. I feel sorry for actors and I never want to do it. I stood in front of a camera in Singles and that's about it.
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Some of the most brilliant things that someone might do could happen in three minutes because it's something that just occurs to them. And then, there's the example of really chipping away at something to create something great. I don't believe that one is more reliable than the other.
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Maybe sincerity is the new punk. But to me, I think I have to connect with something emotionally, on some level, or I don't care about it. And if I don't care about it, then I don't think anyone listening to it will, either.
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RockNet: Were you terribly uncomfortable at the recent Grammy Award Show?
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When you start your first band and it has an impact on the rest of the world you go through a lot with those guys and you become very protective of that legacy.
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I don't care what people think of me or for what reason they think of me. I don't feel like I don't know who I am to the degree that I have to change my hair to create a new me.
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If I'm going to go out to be a solo artist, it's because I want to do something different without having to wait on someone else's schedule or hobbies or be limited by other people's prejudices. I'd be kind of stupid not to exercise that.
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If I had a musical identity that was definable then it would be time to get into painting or something else. Race car driving.
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There was this moment when we made 'Superunknown': the Seattle music scene had suddenly ended up on an international stage with huge success.
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There was a period in my life where most of my musical career was spent in a band that was very aggressive, and there was sort of a wall of volume all the time.
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It's definitely a different world. Smoking is bad for your voice, for sure, but you learn to function in that world of bad. Now I'm in better shape, and I'm much more physical onstage, but I have to watch getting winded. Once I'm winded, I don't sing right. I would have smoked three cigarettes already during this interview laughs.
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Being solo really lends itself to different interpretations - and everything is in the moment and on a whim. I never realised how far out you can go when you are by yourself.
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There was no animosity in the breakup of Soundgarden.
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No matter what, I can't sound like John Lennon. But I can do Tom Jones.
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I think back to my childhood, and I remember running around as a kid. We were all running around then. It wasn't about getting into shape. It's just what we did.
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I've had a long career and I want to continue to have a long career. The way to do that is not to go away.
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Request Magazine: And now we're back to suicide. Some months have passed now since Kurt Cobain killed himself. Judging from his suicide note, it seems as if he thought there was something that was being demanded of him by the music industry or fans or someone, that he either couldn't or didn't want to deliver.
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When I was eight, my piano teacher played seven or eight notes, and I sang them. She stopped and looked at me in shock! That was the first time I'd gotten that reaction. I'd had looks of horror, but never shock in a positive way.
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Music is supposed to be inspired.
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When you have four guys in a room writing songs, it different. It's great - that's what makes a band a band. Audioslave was great.