Quotes from Curt Smith

I think a truly fantastic video is worth it. We spend so much time on the music, it only makes sense to have a really well-done visual translation of that music.

We released 'Mad World' as a single because we felt the music press would like it.

Leading into 'The Hurting,' what changed our view of music was Gary Numan.

We rushed to finish the album when 'Mad World' became a hit. The pressure was on and it stopped being as enjoyable as it had been; in the end, it wasn't enjoyable at all.

We were touring the States tied to a load of drum machines and sequencers and synthesizers, playing to hundreds of thousands of people and yet feeling strangely removed from the music.

I'm becoming hip to my children because bands of their generation name us as influences, so you can definitely hear it, the same way as we were influenced by other people.

My kids don't really buy albums. They buy singles.

I think when you finish an album, you tend to have your favorites, where a lot of the time are not the singles.

At the height of our fame, we didn't see anything. We didn't leave the hotel because we were doing interviews all day. We may have traveled the world, but we saw nothing.

I hate touring beyond measure. I don't like all the travelling and the hotel rooms. But the hour and a half on stage each night keep me going.

We've never been a musically fashionable band. We've been successful, but I think that has something to do with us never following the trends.

We've always been slammed by most of the British press. They probably hate us because we're too normal and incredibly honest.

Solo, you don't have compromise. It gets back to what's great when you're a musician.

We're both getting older, our children are starting to leave home. But I can say that I'm just as passionate a songwriter now in my 50s as I was in my 20s. But instead of talking about the general kind of angst that I felt as a teenager, I'm writing about more specific issues.

Songwriting I think, or any art form, the inspiration comes from your personal life or it can be from politics or region you live in.

More than anything else, being famous just didn't agree with me.

Mad World' was easy for me to sing because I could relate to Roland's lyrics. We were both the middle of three sons and had been brought up by single mothers with absent fathers.

I see bands that have been around for a long time who go through the motions. They're tired and they shouldn't really be doing it any more. We are doing it because we like it.

MySpace is just spam central. I mean, every day I just get mail inviting me to gigs that are nowhere near Los Angeles!

I mean the joy of doing the 'Psych' thing I have to say, is that, you know, I'd met them beforehand, James Roday and Timothy Omundson specifically. I met Dule Hill when I got up there. But they're just, you know, a nice bunch of people.

Mad World's distinctive percussion intro was played on a Roland CR-78 drum machine. We first recorded it at twice the speed, but it sounded great slowed down.

You never stop trying to make progress as a musician.

We are lucky to have had the longevity we've had, garnering new people. I've even become cool to my daughters' friends.

In England, people get bored very quickly. People aren't satisfied with one thing. You can have hits, but to stay there you have to start doing new things.