Rusty Anderson Quotations

(Nigel) basically, right or wrong, felt like the band was very close to Paul and we're good friends and we're very much a team and he felt he couldn't challenge Paul on things with the band there. I think it's sort of his own crazy insecurities.

It feels like a vacation down here. Well, except for when (Hurricane Katrina) came through. I'd never been through anything like that. Trees were upturned and there was a really sharp, loud howl of the wind - incredible.

It feels very loose, in a good way. There's a very large comfort level with the band because we've been doing it for a while now. There's just a lot of trust between everybody.

I think the hooks are important in songs. I'm very respectful. (The Beatles) were like a very huge influence on me, along with a lot of other musicians. But at the same time, I'm a living, breathing musician, and I have my own take on it and my own English that I spin on the bits. This band definitely has a personality to it that's different from The Beatles, or whatever.

We're all big boys. We actually did another record with Paul, with David Kahne producing, that's probably about half done, and then Paul decided to finish (Chaos). It was sort of worked on Chaos, worked on the other record. There's a lot of good music on that (one). It's definitely a very different kind of thing.

We were touring and he heard some of my music and wanted to play on it and I said, 'Well, let's see, maybe we should do a brand new song for it?'

Well, yeah, of course. He's the top of the pinnacle. But ... he's open for ideas and things and it's a working situation. Everybody brings in their bit.

You get used to anything - good or bad - and that's the good thing. I mean, if we have a problem we're able to talk it out.

Backstage I met Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, all these people, even (former President) Bill Clinton, ... It was way too much to take in in one day.

I knew he had three days before he had to return to England and I just said 'Hey, Paul, wanna play on a tune?' and he agreed. Everyone from (McCartney's) touring band came in and we did the song together - it was very surreal.

He's thrilled that it's doing well and I think that definitely makes him excited about the whole touring thing. But at the same time, it's just such a great buzz being on stage, and having those great vibes come back at you. It's just all positive.

It's great. It's supercool. He's got a lot of energy, it's mind-blowing. I think he's just gifted. God sort of said, 'I'm going to throw about 50 people's talents into this one person.' He's just blessed with a lot of things.

A producer I had worked with (David Kahne) got the gig with Paul and brought me in and then, that was that. I was a big Beatles fan when I was young and they were the reason I started playing music.

It's just being in proximity to someone who, all your life, you have heard about and seen hs pictures and movies and heard his records and, all of a sudden, I'm with (him). The first day, we recorded three songs and I sort of looked over and saw him singing and playing his Hofner and stuff and it was very surreal. It took a while to kind of get used to it. You can't stay there, you get nothing done. You get stuff done but it's too stressful. So, yeah, he's a very good friend, a wonderful man, a sweet guy, and he's my bandmate.

It was really fun, ... (Paul) was very endearing when he would make a mistake when I was teaching him the song and stuff and he was cursing himself. It was really, really cool. Very surreal. Just fun. He's so musical, it was a really great experience. It was just fun doing it together.

So I go to the studio, and just say, 'Hi Paul, it's me, Rusty.' I think I kept it together pretty well, although I was pretty nervous. And before the day is over I'm playing guitar, and there's Paul McCartney over there, playing his Hofner bass and singing. All I can do is think, 'This life is so so bizarre.'