Traveling the world was a constant thing, rich with experiences. But all of it was relative to being able to play live onstage and really stretch out.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Touring helped me understand where I needed to be better in my music.
Touring is tough. You're almost in a haze because you don't really know where you are half the time: You're in a hotel room one moment, and the next thing you know, you're onstage performing for 60,000 people, then you're back on an airplane. It's very hectic and I couldn't do it without my family.
The international travelling gets harder as I get older, but when I'm performing on stage, it makes it all worth while.
I studied the lives of jazz singers who would tour Europe, and... what I learned was life was big ride for them. They'd seen the dark side of humanity... but touring the world playing jazz, it was a truly carefree way of living. A great escapism, if you like.
When you've travelled for 34 years as a musician, you do all the culture stuff when you're young and full of energy. In the middle stage, you indulge too much and are scared of daylight. Then, in the final stage, you've seen it all, so you tend to take things a lot easier.
The thing I always liked best about touring abroad was constantly running into different people, different cultures, different foods. It really pumped up my batteries... I'm constantly playing to a demographically diverse audience... one generation is driven by nostalgia, the next by curiosity. And that's why I have no plans to retire.
To me, there was nothing greater than to play for an audience and to entertain people and that has stayed with me all these years.
Being able to travel the world is pretty cool. There are places that I've always wanted to go to but being able to go there as somebody who's a musician and is recognised as one is cool.
One thing I wish I'd done differently in my career is insist on having friends or family on tour. I was really young when I travelled the world with Eternal, and I was always homesick.
Touring with King Crimson wasn't a lot of fun for me. I had a lot of equipment, and when I was in improvised music I'd set it up myself, play the gig, and put it all away again.
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