Richard Ashcroft
Some people have a God because they need faith, and that's fair enough.Collection: Faith
I've never written a 'Revolver' or a 'Pet Sounds.'Collection: Pet
Rock n' roll is like a religion.Collection: Religion
Pop music might seem banal and simple to some people, but it's what it expresses that counts.
You look at the Blur comeback, it was so smooth - so smooth - compared to The Verve.
Ed Sheeran? I don't like the fact he gets a lot of stick. I like the fact he works hard, and God knows how much money he pays to the tax man each year.
I love my cracked eyes.
'Bitter Sweet Symphony' is one of the greatest pieces of modern art created by anyone. I'm not blowing my own trumpet here.
At The Verve's first-ever gig, I said that we were gonna blow this local band off the stage. It was only in the local Wigan paper, and they rang me to ask why I was being so aggressive. I just went, 'Hey man, it's like boxing. I'm just trying to sell a ticket.'
I'd definitely say I'm a depressive, someone who suffers from depression.
With 'Break The Night,' each verse is saying, 'Nothing's going right today; nothing ever does.' It's about that kind of repetition, it's that kind of mantra you can get in your mind when you're depressed or down, when it's become like a hamster on a wheel - it's very difficult to break.
If this world hasn't made you semi-mad, then you ain't living in it.
Creativity, for me, is almost like therapy; my songs take you into the underbelly of my mind, and there's some dark stuff in there.
I don't like being told what to do.
I'm very lucky that I can walk on the stage before anyone in the world. And that's the thing: you've got to be pretty confident to go on after me. You've got to have the artillery, as I call it. And the artillery is your songs.
Other kids would be playing with their Action Man, and I was questioning life and society.
80% of everything I've experienced since the Verve has been depressing.
Technology means the kind of music you can make on your own if you've got an imagination is amazing. It's crazy that I can sit with a Mac and a keyboard and a mic and create a symphony.
I love sportsmen's spirit, their ability to come back and override negativity. Michael Owen has been written off so many times, but he will always prove the doubters wrong.
Even if you're not releasing songs, the act of creativity is important. That's the part I love, when you're in the moment. The rest of it I'm not particularly interested in at all.
I'm very interested in Darwinism and how that affects us on a day-to-day level. But I also have a deep interest in theology and the spiritual.
I don't think I have enough German blood in me to get into the royal family.
I'm a naturally gifted left-footed footballer.
We never had a stylist, so I always wore my own clothes.
People do get out of my way when I'm walking to the shops.
Music is power.
People wanted me to become this cliched Keith Richards, Iggy Pop character. I wasn't expected to marry a beautiful wife and have kids.
I wouldn't trade what Coldplay have achieved for any of my songs.
Don't expect me to be some indie schmindie embarrassed about my success.
Ultimately, if someone's paying hard-earned money to see me play live, they don't want a rant about what's happening on the other side of the world. They don't want to know which way they should vote.
I have never had a bad review off a good-looking person.
I don't want to be responsible for messing up someone. I don't want to be responsible for that, because the things that happened in The Verve, it was heavy stuff. It was real. It wasn't just frivolous nonsense, you know what I mean? There was real people's lives.
The mainstream consumed our culture.
If you really, truly believe in something, you're on fire, and your tongue rolls at the same pace.
I don't believe in a new-age movement; I'm not a hippy.
I've had tons of incredible conversations with people who say they got married or buried relatives to my songs.
Hearing 'This Is How It Feels' on the radio was an amazing feeling, like starting again. But I believe that, in the end, my name will be bigger then the Verve because of all those great tunes and the power of what I stand for.
Just because something's kinda indie and whatever and only a few people know it, it doesn't give it more authenticity over Rihanna's 'Work' work work.
There's a track called 'Why Not Nothing' about how the world's turning so conservative and so religious at the same time. I think it's up to the songwriters to give another side to the coin, and my music does that.
Obviously, aging has a certain amount of mellowing process because there's certain things you realise you were doing when you were younger that were plain ridiculous, stupid.
I'm never happy with any record, never truly been happy.
I strongly disagree that you can't have a happy family life and a child as well as rock n' roll.
If you judge people by what they've done in the past, you're wrong.
I've got a talent, and people enjoy my songs, people love my songs; why stop?
As a musician, I don't wanna put out political soundbites.
I want to entertain and inspire.
I've always felt like an outsider in this industry, but that sense of community - that sense of belonging with your fans - it's an amazing feeling, and it's really inspiring.
The music industry wants safe rock stars, people who are totally homogenised.
It doesn't matter how fashion or politics changes; you'll never change a classic song.
A classic song is timeless. You'll never outlive a classic song. I'll never put The Beatles 'In My Life' on one day and say, 'That doesnt move me any more.'