Quotes from Billy Squier

Following the example of Bruce Springsteen or Bob Seger, I wanted to have a band, a sound and a personality, yet maintain a singular position of being able to control and motivate the flow of things.

I'm basically a nice guy.

I don't make grandiose, prophetic statements in my songs.

We do things instinctively and not necessarily rationally. It's almost like we're being controlled by unseen forces, which is something I don't like. I've been making a real effort to try to find out what those forces are and get them out of my life.

Red lights, green lights, stop and go jive. Headlines, deadlines, jamming your mind.

I don't like pictures of me showing my hair sticking up in back.

I always wanted to merge heavy metal with pop music, but I think that because I grew up more with pop, the Beatles and the Stones, I tended to affiliate myself with those projects.

Even in 1971, J. Geils was into the Stones. When I heard Geils, I realized that a lot of other people hearing them had never heard the Stones.

Success hasn't changed me at all. I'm still the same cocky, arrogant guy I've always been. The only difference now is that I'm busy all the time.

Certainly, I don't believe in rebellion for its own sake. But I think if you strive to do something in an individualistic way, you just become a rebel by definition.

Take 'The Stroke,' for instance. Plenty of people saw sexual connotations in that song but to me it was about what goes on in the business world.

So everybody is trying to play like Eddie Van Halen. I think it's rubbish. I think Eddie's great, but everyone's trying to do what he does and it doesn't make for a lot of interesting music.

I tend to be very methodical for a variety of reasons. I'm more of a plodder.

I don't try to be difficult. I just care so much about these albums that I get crazed sometimes when I'm making them.

I'm not gonna get it all right, but I take my victories, as small as they are.

I was good at sports - basketball, football, tennis and dropped them all. At 16, I didn't care about sports anymore.

I do keep my eyes and ears open but I don't spend a lot of time looking at what other people are doing to see how I can fit in.

We don't want to categorize our music. Some people say you need a definite musical direction to give a group visibility.

You guard your hopes and pocket your dreams, you'd trade it all to avoid an unpleasant scene.

I tend to deal with things in a very serious manner.