Ryan Adams Interviewed By Bitchfork

Check out a multitude of insipid questions/remarks, and Ryan's straightforward responses to the Bitchfork inquiries below. The full interview can be read via this link.

Pitchfork: I understand you are sober now.
Ryan Adams: Yes.
Pitchfork: What does that mean, exactly?
RA: Well, it means that I don't take drugs, and I don't drink. I don't participate in that kind of stuff.

Pitchfork: Was there part of you that felt like an ass just for getting yourself into that situation to begin with?
RA: Well, no. I was basically contributing to that kind of lifestyle since I can remember. I wouldn't say that it was a point that I got to. I mean, it was the point that I ended up at after so many years, but for a time I think it was very much to be expected, or what I thought would be expected, just being a musician: being a hellraisier.

Pitchfork: A matter of the pace - even the Smiths, toward the end, were dabbling in drink and drugs.
RA: I've read that even Steven Patrick Morrissey was kicking back a couple of bottles of this or that to try and deal with maybe some of the pressure. They were a very big deal, especially in their country. They were huge.
Pitchfork: And they worked fast, like you do.
RA: Hmm, yeah.

Pitchfork: Everyone's an asshole sometimes, but there's no place to hide on stage.
RA: True. But I don't think I've ever gone on stage to be an asshole. I know one thing, from the past, and that's that my intentions always began in a pure way. I really want to just try and play the songs.
Pitchfork: Well, that's not exactly true. I once saw you play a show where you hopped off the stage and went to the bar and brought someone on stage in your place to sing along with Minor Threat records.
RA: Yeah.
Pitchfork: I have to say, your songs suffered that night.

MP3: Ryan Adams - Brown Sugar (Rolling Stones cover)