15 May 1993

Richard Ashcroft in NME

"I said I was gonna be able to fly. Well why not? I actually believe that I could fly if I put my mind to it but everyone's embarrassed to hear me say it. Why? Because everyone's embarrassed t think big. Everyone's scared of the unknown. Everyone's frightened when , for even a split second, they think about who the fuckin' hell they are and where they're going and what happened before they existed."

"That vast void of uncertainty is what's behind this band. And when I said I was expecting to fly, I was just trying to explain what we do as a band, to explain that we can do anything and we're gonna go as far as possible. I mean if I'm called Mad Richard just because I get involved in a gig, because I lose myself, how banal and boring does that make everything else?….So call me Mad Richard if you like. In these times I consider it a compliment…"

"I don't think we're ever gonna achieve what we wanna achieve. It would be impossible, but that's the point. To aim further. But I think, for our age and experience, we've made a fucking great first album and established a great place to start."

"Music elevates me. It stretches reality into an unbelievable experience, it stretches each day into a completely different world. I don't think many bands realise that people are there to experience something different, something not run-of-the-mill. And I think you owe it to the people who are spending their pocket money or dole or wages on your records and live gigs to go as far as possible, because they're putting their trust and that's what I expect of bands that I go and see." - RICHARD ASHCROFT
  • New Musical Express, UK, May 15, 1993