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"I was [19] working in a restaurant and [Steve Vai] comes along talking about touring Europe, Japan, playing the 'Tonight Show' and touring with Aerosmith in enormous domes, etc. I was like 'fuck, show me the mic!'"
THE PIT, US (on why he joined the VAI project)
"Most of [the music] was just written on the spot... ninety percent of it happens in the studio. I'm going bald rapidly just from being in the studio. Every time I sing in the studio I black out and the doctor says I'm giving myself these little strokes. It's like a bad thing..."
THE PIT, US (on recording 'Heavy As...')
"I've got a really overactive imagination, so I stress really easy. People think I faked the anger on the record. I'm not writing about shit I don't know about."
SOUNDSCAPE, US
"The thing that kills me is all these bands that use huge words in their lyrics, 'I'm swimming in a vortex of apathy.' I'm like, 'What?' I don't walk up to a friend and go 'That's a stylin' looking vortex of apathy you've got there pal. I was swimming up a river of deceit myself.'"
SOUNDSCAPE, US
"There are so many bands that have the ballad by the third album and all that crap. Well, not here, pal. The second album is written and if you didn't like the first one, you're gonna hate the second one."
SOUNDSCAPE, US (on 'City')
"I hope I ain't doing this when I'm thirty because I feel this way at the moment and it is not something I am overly proud of. It's like saying, 'Hey everybody, I have a bad temper.'"
CHRONICLES OF CHAOS, Internet (on the aggression of SYL)
"It just came from desperation, and I thought it was three words that worked together, and heck, it was the name of a song. The options I had left to work with, which would be equally devastating was 'Red Rice' which I think is the greatest name to this day. 'Starchy Alien' came up and 'Urethra or Mine' and that was it..."
RUBBERNECK, US (on naming SYL)
"Of course the sex change starts next week, if it's a success, look for me in the waif issue alongside Kate Moss modelling men's underwear."
RUBBERNECK, US
"I used to have long hair; I looked like a retard. Then I had dreads, and I still looked like a retard. Then I shaved my head; still a retard. I don't care. But I love dressing up, man. I can go on-stage in a wet suit and flippers (in fact, I did it once), but I'm not gonna walk down the street like that. If someone asks me, 'Do you wanna do a photo shoot where you're dressed only in your underwear and swinging by your testicles?' I'd say, 'Why not?'"
CANADIAN MUSICIAN, Canada
"I started to see people as little lonesome, water based, pink meat, life forms pushing air through themselves and making noises that the other little pieces of meat seemed to understand...I don't think I was 'mad', I was just confused."
METAL HAMMER, UK (on his bipolar syndrome)
"Take the chaos of 'Heavy...' but put it in tune this time, and put that into 'Jesus Christ Superstar'. I've got massive guitars, trombones, a choir, an orchestra and techno beats, 200 tracks of vocals...it's an organic chaos record."
METAL HAMMER, UK (on Infinity)
"When we were 16, Iron Maiden was really cool. I had a Wasp silk wall-hanging on my wall. I had a Judas Priest hat. I made a pair of fingerless gloves out of my mother's fuzzy purple mittens. This next song is an homage to metal and the cheesy voices that come with announcing it."
Intro to 'Far Beyond Metal' from 'No Sleep Till Bedtime'
