Music drives you. It wakes you up, it gets you pumping. And, at the end of the day, the correct tune will chill you down.
Jamming with other people will create energy and excitement that you can feed off, and which will help push you to do things you'd never dream of doing by yourself.
Initially, I just used the guitar as a prop. I'd pose with it in front of a mirror in my Kiss makeup when I was skipping school. Then I figured out how to play the main riff to Deep Purple's 'Smoke on the Water' on just the E string. Next, my old man showed me how to play barre chords, and that's when things started getting really heavy.
I respect the Pantera fans with all my heart.
I was more influenced by players like Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen than by the guys in southern rock bands.
When I first started experimenting with harmonics, I'd sometimes hook up two distortion boxes just to get my strings 'frying,' which helped bring out the harmonics.