I did a little theatre work after that and the following year I got another part in a television series. Then it was almost to the end of the year before I got more work. That was coming to terms with the reality of the vocation I had chosen.
In my first 15 or 20 years of authorship, I was almost never asked to give a speech or an interview. The written work was supposed to speak for itself, and to sell itself, sometimes even without the author’s photograph on the back flap.
Arabic is very twisting, very beautiful. The call to prayer is quite haunting; it almost makes you a believer on the spot.
With an older generation, there’s some weight carried with the Beatles. There’s almost like an untouchable, god-like force field around them.
It could be seen as narcissistic to have your own museum, but for me, it’s such a long time ago – I have perspective. That young man in the funny clothes – he’s almost a stranger, so I can tell his story.
All these years later, I have almost no memory of the shows themselves. It’s a blur. I remember my jogging runs better – that was my way of getting my energy together. I used to try to get to the arena as late as possible; otherwise, I’d just be pacing around, waiting to go on.
I’m lucky to have been raised in the most beautiful place – Amherst, Massachusetts, state of my heart. I’m more patriotic to Massachusetts than to almost any place.
Indian street magic tends to be very gory, blood and guts. One trick is for a magician to take a knife and appear to cut his kid’s head almost off. The magician then says to the crowd, ‘Well I can continue to cut off my son’s head or you can all give me some money.’ Then he wanders around and takes 10 rupees from everyone and restores his son.
If a magician makes a mistake, it’s sometimes forgiven by the audience. If a gambling cheat makes a mistake, they will almost certainly lose their lives – and probably in a horrible manner.
I’ve always worked on all different types of music, some with specific project goals and deadlines and some not. Sometimes I would write a piece of music that is almost like a film score or weird electro pieces, wherever the muse took me, and I still do that.