O: You have kind of developed a reputation as a recluse. Does that bother you?
TW: Hell, no. I think that's a good one. It wards off strangers. It's like being a beekeeper.
[snip]
O: What are you driving these days?
TW: Oh, I got a beautiful 1959 Cadillac Coupe DeVille four-door. No one will ride in it with me.
O: Why's that?
TW: It's unsafe. But it looks good. I take it to the dump. We spend a lot of time in our cars. You know what I really love? The CD players in a car. How when you put the CD right up by the slot, it actually takes it out of your hand, like it's hungry. It pulls it in, and you feel like it wants more silver discs. "More silver discs. Please." I enjoy that.
O: Do you have one in the Cadillac?
TW: No, I have a little band in there. It's an old car, so I have a little old string band in the glove compartment. It's grumpy. You know the average person spends two weeks over their lifetime waiting for the traffic light to change?
Waits also talks about his views on using songs in advertising, covers of his compositions, and knowing your audience. "You don't really know. I guess one should not even assume that one has an audience, and allow it to go to your head," he says.
Article comments
1 - Jinjer
Please check out this Tom Waits article.
http://www.musicbizadvice.com/tomwaits.htm Thanks!
2 - S.A. Smith
Never could stand that dog.
3 - Eric Olsen
SA, great line, I love that album, his first in a really different direction: punk folk-jazz or something.