Curt Smith

My father always worked away, and died when I was 17, but I hated him by that point. It hit me later in life, but back then I was teenage and angry.

I think Roland read 'Primal Scream' first and then gave it to me. This was, I think, even prior to 'The Graduate' days. We both got heavily into and it offered a lot of questions about how screwed up our home life was.

We're not pop stars. Living with success is a job; it's the music that's dear to us.

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.

Our own lives always influence the way we write.

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

Sometimes albums can be quick, sometimes they take forever, and we're very good at taking forever.

People don't really buy records anymore, so record companies won't invest in bands like us. They want cookie-cutter acts.

I saw a band called The Electric Guitars, from Bristol. I described them to Roland, and he just started playing a riff on guitar and said, 'Do they sound like this?' And they did.

I like the country, the peace and quiet, because the music business is so hectic.

We really hated being in a band. The joy for us and why we slipped nicely and neatly into it was because we didn't need a band anymore. We became a duo because of technology.

It's definitely a joy when you make a record to know you are doing it for the right reasons: You want to do it and that you think you have something valid to offer.