Quotes from Billy Squier

There are a lot of cases where I'm using, if not an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar more as a rhythm instrument. Rather than blasting away, I use it to create more of an acoustic feel.

When I write the songs, I don't dictate how people should interpret them.

I'm not a poet. So the writing process is a difficult one for me.

Consummate talent and relentless passion - The Truth ain't pretty...but it rocks like crazy!

Singing is the form I've chosen to express myself. It's the way I emote best.

I don't feel I have to be Jackson Browne. Still, I like to say something.

I heard that I was off traveling around the world skiing in Argentina and things like that. I may have had a great life in somebody's mind, but all I was seeing was 9th Avenue while going from my house down to the studio in New York City.

Heavy metal to me implies a relentless, pounding, hitting-people-over-the-head music. Trend setters tend to dismiss it as basic and simple, but all the time that little trends keep coming and going, the Bob Segers, Bruce Springsteens and the Billy Squiers keep staying.

I used to be a big arena person. I thought more people equaled more intensity, but smaller places are a lot more intimate, I feel more connected with the audience.

When I grew up, I had influences as diverse as Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix.

For me, music is this incredibly cerebral trip. You turn on the radio or put on a record, and it's your song, it's what you see.

I was a mess... It's like 'Rock Me Tonite' is an MBA course on how a video can go really wrong.

What I do is a bit broader in scope than a heavy metal band like Iron Maiden, Motorhead, ACDC and so on.

My music has been called heavy metal, but that's not an accurate description. I'd rather call it articulate rock because it expresses many feelings and emotions.

I try to keep the theatrics to a minimum and let the music do the talking.

I was very humbled by the 'one-man Led Zeppelin' comparisons.

I read one article that called me the 'latest pretender to the Led Zeppelin throne.'... If I saw the guy I'd knock him out. Because that's not true - I'm not pretending anything. If my records sell, it's because of me.

I can put on 'Revolver' or 'Led Zeppelin II' and then 'Tell the Truth' and there is no quality gap.

I take songwriting very seriously and I wouldn't want anything I do to be construed as frivolous or mundane.

I mean, I would always like to play bigger places and play for more people.

If 'Emotions in Motion' comes out right, I can write the book on the formula rock star.

It would be easier to be more mysterious, but I try to be accessible.

Seeing a young band, seeing that hunger and the raw spontaneity, is good for me. It keeps me young, so to speak.

Studio work is very methodical, while live concerts must be very spontaneous.