Quotes from Rick Nielsen

I'm kind of a goony guy, a dweeb or a geek.

I just wanted to write about stuff that was happening in real life, and that's not just love songs about your girlfriend.

I was always the wise guy class clown throughout my childhood.

One reason I rarely listen to radio is they don't play our music much.

We've got the pretty-boy lead singer and the fat, dumpy drummer, and I'm the zany guitarist. Sure, we've played up the image at times. But it's the music that matters most.

Some people collect this or that. I'm a musician; I collect guitars.

I didn't want to be one of the Beach Boys or one of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah band. I mean, we appreciated that music. But I didn't want to grow a beard to look like Roy Wood just because I liked him.

Have a good work ethic. You've got to practice, practice, practice. I'm not telling you what to practice - that's up to you.

You've got to work hard and have luck. Luck only enters in if you do work hard.

Playing in Japan for thousands of people was like playing on the moon.

We played with AC/DC. There are actual recordings of us doing 'Johnny B Good' together.

I think I've probably had one of my guitars on display at every Hard Rock Cafe in the world.

I like Harvey Mandel.

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - those guys were great.

The song 'Hello There' was written because we never got a soundcheck. 'Hello There' was our soundcheck.

Hendrix was a different kind of guitar player. It was like, 'Holy cow, this guy can sing, he can play all this weird stuff... what is this?' It was a new kind of music.

I love guitars, and guitars love me, but sometimes they need new homes where they can live to rock another day.

In 1977, I had Paul Rivera hotrod six Fender Deluxes for me. At that time, a lot of studio guys in L.A. were using those - not so much live guys but studio guys. They had terrific tone and great technique, and I was like, 'Well, I like having terrific tone even though I don't have any technique.'

We all record together. We do it live; then, after that, we do overdubs, if we need to, to repair stuff. Usually when we do stuff, we have to make sure we get the bass and drums down, and by doing it live, you're actually playing the song. You're not piecing together a song.

I was the Richard Gere non-lookalike in Illinois.

Duane Eddy is somebody I wanted to play like. I discovered him before The Beatles, and he totally got to me. He sent me a note back in 1977 and said that he really liked what Cheap Trick were doing. That's one of those 'Wow!' moments, you know?

When we toured with AC/DC, we always had to bring our A game. They really felt like our equals.

We toured with Deep Purple a number of times.

We're known as a touring band, not a singles band.