First of all, when you live in a country like Canada, it's quite different from America in the sense that it's very tied to traditions that were born in Britain.


For me, how I feel about what I wrote down turns into a song.


For me, there is a lot of room for improvement and there are a lot of things I would like to be better at.


I am in the process of gathering together old compressors: LA4s, 1176s, those kind of things. I have been using LA4s in the studio, that kind of stuff - high quality compression equipment.


I am moved more by melodies, song structure, and evocative textures.


I did the advertisement for Emagic software, because I like the product and I had already been using it a lot. They offered to be a little more interactive with me in development of it, and it was something I felt that was appropriate to do.


I do love using keyboards and I love writing keyboard parts, but I am not a player in the true sense of the word.


I feel a little uncomfortable about endorsements.


I feel safe and comfortable to do that once I know that the song structure around the bass part is very interesting and it satisfies me in a compositional sense.


I have my Mackie 32/8 console and I am a big believer in using Emagic Logic Audio.


I have such an extreme attitude about work, where I can just completely be derelict of my responsibilities and then when I am not derelict, I am completely indulged in it. I swing pretty wildly from the two extremes.


I like to be able to come and go as I please, and I don't really like having my face and name plastered around. I think it's a bit weird to have your name plastered on every page in a magazine, where in each case you're using a different piece of equipment.


I liked the fact that I was forced to get inside of my emotions and to really try to figure out a lot of what I was going through.


I love to write. It's my first love.


I prefer to think of myself as a musician who is still learning and trying to do something every time out.


I was taking piano lessons with a very good piano instructor in Toronto, and I'm afraid due to my schedule and discipline, it kind of fell apart. One thing lead to another and I was unable to practice as much as I wanted to.


I would like to shift more into writing for and producing people.


I would like to think that Ben and myself have begun a partnership that will take us into different areas of music that we can continue to write, enjoy and keep me involved with music other then what I do with RUSH.




In the early days, Rickenbacker was very good to me, and now I have a relationship with Trace-Elliot in terms of amplification and they have been really swell.


It's hard for me to just practice without writing something.


My studio is designed for atmosphere. I have a really cozy, comfortable room that has a great, huge glass door that views my backyard.


Neil is very professional to work with.


Of course, I love what I do with RUSH and I will continue to do it as long as we all believe it is all worthwhile to do.


Other times, I'll just sit with the lyrics and, basically, the lyrics will inspire me to write a particular melodic part or vocal melody.

Some writing and production projects will be a great way to spend my elderly rock years.


That is what intrigues me; songwriting and song structure and expression.


Then, once I have lyrics, being able to shape them around a song is nothing new for me, I've been doing that for 25 years. The soul searching part of it, the spontaneous part of it, that was, and remains, a really terrific process.


There was a time when fast playing and fretboard pyrotechnics on the bass were important to me and when I am recording a bass track, that is still very important to me.


These days, I think Les Claypool is a brilliant bassist, of course Jeff Berlin is still out there and playing... he's a remarkable talent.


Well, I certainly identify with Progressive Rock and I certainly don't mind RUSH being labeled as a Progressive Rock group.


When I usually go to my studio to work, I start with something that is going to take two minutes just to put some idea down and the next thing I know, ten hours have gone by and my family is screaming at me because they want me to come up to have dinner with them.


With the help of modern technology, I can compose intricate keyboard parts and then I have to go back and learn them in order to perform them properly.