Quote

I don't think any of us think of ourselves as artists or actors - clowns, we'll accept that label.

I would hope they would be our fellow artists, rather than trying to emulate or idolize clowns like us.

Plus, you know, when I was young, there was a lot of respect for clowning in rock music - look at Little Richard. It was a part of the whole thing, and I always also believed that it released the audience.

I think we all have the urge to be a clown, whether we know it or not.

I built a reputation as a songwriter in the industry before my own hits. People were used to coming to me for songs. There were songs like 'Clown' and 'Mountains' that were my songs that I wanted to keep. But the record labels saw me as a songwriter. It was hard to get people to believe in me as an artist.

As a kid I was always a bit of a clown, a performer.

I was finding it very difficult to find a label that understood what I wanted to do and really believed that people wanted to hear something honest and a little bit different. So, I did feel a bit like a clown. You're knocking on everyone's door trying to get them to believe what you're doing.

As a songwriter, that's really what you hope for - to make that connection with your audience.

I was obsessed with clowns. My dad had to get rid of them. I thought there were clowns under my bed for years.

I never thought of myself as a songwriter. I was just an artist writing songs, and they just happened to get placed.