Songs are out there - they're waiting to be grabbed. I start with a phrase, musical and lyrical, words like 'I don't think so' and a nice riff. It rolls from there.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I think the best riffs and the best songs come when you're jamming and having a good time.
I think if you take 'Get Ready,' 'Waiting For The Siren's Call,' 'Lost Sirens' - those three New Order albums were mostly guitar-based. There were a couple of dance tunes in there, but they were mainly guitar-oriented. They came about through jamming, a lot of them.
It seems to me that those songs that have been any good, I have nothing much to do with the writing of them. The words have just crawled down my sleeve and come out on the page.
To me and my band, guitar riffs are what it's all about. We know that every time we jam on a great riff, we've got a fighting chance of writing a great song!
That's what I find with any good song, you just have to let it happen. Out of about twenty songs you might write, one of any significance. It might be thirty or forty, but I just keep churning them out and churning them out in hope that one of them will stick.
When I write a song, it's all about the riff - the riff first, then the words come later.
If you hear a good song, it makes you hopeful like, 'That is out there.'
I'm a lyric man - I'm always looking for meaningful songs.
The songs come along at their own pace when they are ready.
Generally my songs are just some riffs slung together as an excuse for a guitar solo.