I think punk rock, especially for me, was a big middle finger to this whole talent thing.

The only thing new is you finding out about something. Like nothing's really new, but you reinvent it for yourself and find your inner voice.

I have a little name. That's why people can remember it.

Imitation is being rewarded. They're learning that if you fit right in the mold, you get rewarded. Music is no longer a form of expression - it's a means to a lifestyle.

Punk is not really a style of music. It was more like a state of mind.

Life is definitely not a rehearsal, this is it.

I think punk rock, especially for me, was a big middle finger to this whole talent thing.

When punk rock came along, the one thing you were not supposed to be was musical.

I can play punk rock, and I love playing punk rock, but I was into every other style of music before I played punk rock.

Punk rock really came out of N.Y. as a philosophy before the groups were ever recorded. I had a kind-of intellectual interest in the idea of creating a new scene that could be a grassroots thing.

And I used to go the punk clubs such as a gay club in Poland Street that everyone would go to because it was the only place you could go to looking like that without getting beaten senseless.

Mozart was a punk, which people seem to forget. He was a naughty, naughty boy.

A punk concert isn't fun without a pit.

The first Decline I did was out of sheer love and appreciation for the music. In 1977, it was more about bands, because punk was a new form of music. It was groundbreaking and political.

When the punk thing came along and I heard my friends saying, I hate these people with the pins in their ears. I said, Thank God, something got their attention.

But there's actually a lot of punk bands out there that go out of the norm, use odd time signatures, or a lot of different tempo changes in a song.

The funniest thing happened in one of my first scenes. In the beginning Emma was really arrogant and punk and in every scene she would slam the door when she walked in or out.

There are several books out on punk history, but I haven't read any of them. I was there.

The period right before punk rock where people like Lou Reed and Iggy Pop were really strong.

I got tired of the Ramones around the time I quit and I really got into rap. I thought it was the new punk rock. LL Cool J was my biggest idol.

The iconoclastic mode, that specific mode of language, there is an element of it that it is punk - that is confrontational. That's just a part of the language of jazz - at a certain point.

I was in a little punk band and we put out a few punk records that weren't very political, at all.

I didn't know who was on the team, but I saw every eye as I walked down the aisle. It looked like a thousand eyes were staring right at me saying, 'Who is this young punk?' I just kept my eyes straight ahead.

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.

The new album is a childhood dream come true. Got to sing with Ronnie Spector, got to cover a bunch of songs that were influential in drawing a line between the punk form and original rock and roll.

Punk is not dead. Punk will only die when corporations can exploit and mass produce it.

Absolute 80's is three hours of mainstream 80's music. I also do New Wave Nation that is more cutting edge. It is more punk stuff from the 70's to the 90's.

There is a great deal of cyberpunk that I admire, especially the work of William Gibson which I think is excellent. Somehow he speaks from his own heart and cyber punk is what comes out.

Teachers didn't like me very much. They thought I was just this punk kid and they always wanted to kick me out.

I was the first person to have a punk rock hairstyle.

All those years we'd spent learning these chops, and all those gigs in Germany where you'd play all night, and along comes punk. It has nothing to do with that. A lot of people went out of business.

The last true punk band to get a major label contract was The Dickies.

I'm thinking of remaking Psycho again. Doing a third remake. The idea this time is to really change it - we're talking about doing a Punk rocker setting.

There are a lot of bands who claim to be punk and they only play the music, they have no clue what it's all about. It's a lifestyle. It's not about popularity and all that crap.

I'd been a Bowie fan before punk and used to get no end of trouble. I was always getting knocked about and having to run up the street, getting chased by people. It was horrible.

It's very cliched to go, 'You're not punk.' We don't care if we are, and we don't care if we aren't.

There's not much music I'll listen to if it doesn't have pretty heavy swing. Rhythm is so important. Punk rock would have more power and feeling if it had swing.

The jury had down right contempt for punk rock grass roots ethics.

Were it not for the Clash, punk would have been just a sneer, a safety pin and a pair of bondage trousers.

If it comes out sounding like Dixieland jazz or classical or punk or rock or even slightly metal, that's because that's where I'm going to find inspiration.

It's all magic to me. Country to punk rock, all of it. Chopin to Kurt Cobain. But it always all comes back to punk for me, because that was the last time, punk rock or grunge rock, was the last time that passion ruled the airwaves.

I've always been spiritual but I've never had a proper context, and it took me awhile to find the proper context. It's hard to realize you can have any kind of relationship with God you want... and so I now have a punk rock relationship with God.

Rap actually comes out of punk rock, not black music.

Punk is not really a style of music. It was more like a state of mind.

Then the early punk rock period with Television and the Ramones. That's what I loved- that's what I was listening to immediately prior to when I started to play.

I just think that playing bass, like punk rock bass with a pick, wasn't meant to be done for 25 years.

Punk is not just the sound, the music. Punk is a lifestyle.

Punk has always been about doing things your own way. What it represents for me is ultimate freedom and a sense of individuality.

Even though we're not the most punk rock band, the way we've done things is pretty punk rock. Just kinda say it with a big middle finger to the record labels and do it ourselves.