Mr. Fantasy was the only song that was scribbling on a piece of paper.
Traffic was very, very free. It was great.
Far From Home was also my idea from a magazine I’d seen.
After that, I specifically started writing lyrics. I would like sweat and think and get it all together.
You know, I had the ability like a catalyst to really get everybody hyped up.
We played at a club called, the Elbow Room. Don Carlos, the nightclub owner, was very hip and a very important person who made a big impact on my life.
Everything that Traffic ever did, I’d give Steve a complete lyric, titled, written out with the verse, the bridge, the shape and rhyme and then Steve had to figure out how the meter of the words would fit musically.
If you take the time away, you take the character away.
We all had a desire and appreciation for such a wide range of music.
So the name of a group has to say something. The name has to be strong.
It’s a sort of philosophy you cook up for yourself. You probably write things the same as everybody else, but it’s your own personal way of saying things.
I have to confess that a strong contributing factor was that I had just taken what was probably the first acid ever made, given to me by a guy called Johnny Fellows, who had just returned from America.
I have always had a tremendous amount of energy and any band I was ever in from the age of fourteen, I would always be the one who would describe the future and vibe everyone up.
I turned everybody on so, psychologically, I guess I was pushing the boundaries creativity.
I think you do better when you are really up for it, cause passion goes up.
Guys would hang out in groups just to be with the music.
For me, naming bands was the forerunner to really writing lyrics, because I work off titles.
I like to hear songs which can lay it all on, songs which can look at the dark side as well as the bright side, sometimes they can be as strong as each other. Love and hatred are close.
You have to have a strong title. It’s got to say something.
The States are great. I’d like to go just to see life, see things and hear people talk. It’s like a circus where different acts go on at the same time.