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I quit my band in New York City in 1969 and I got really angry at them. I got angry at one of my guitar players and I dove over the drum set and we got into a fight.

I was being very bad because I didn't know how to express myself. Music gave me an outlet to express myself and channel that anger.

I was a kid who got picked on in school, and now the guys beating up those kids were wearing red caps and using my music to fuel that aggression. But if they listen to the lyrics, the aggression is targeted at them.

I think, people look at me, and they say, 'You were very aggressive,' I say, 'Yeah,' you know, and I've made a better life for myself, for my son, so I should reflect that with my music now. I shouldn't still be rhyming like that; that would be me lying.

The thing about playing percussion is that you can create all these emotions that can be sometimes beautiful, sometimes really ugly, or sometimes sweet, sometimes as big as King Kong and so on. And so there can be a real riot out there, or it can be so refined.

People who don't take care of their drums really annoy me.

I've always seen my drumming as lyrical anyway.

There's a lot of rage... you have to express it somehow. If I didn't express it in song, I'd become incredibly violent.

I mean, when it gets down to it I just wanted to play the drums. The rest of it never meant that much to me.

A lot of drummers get sidetracked by the instrument. It can engulf you.