Once you free your mind about a concept of music and harmony being correct, you can do whatever you want.
'Take My Breath Away' had that interesting bass line, which I hear quite often. It had that terrible change of key, which Terri Nunn hated, but I loved.
Disco is music for dancing, and people will always want to dance.
Dance music doesn't care where you live. It doesn't care who your friends are. It doesn't care how much money you make. It doesn't care if you're 74 or if you are 24 because... 74 is the new 24!
I set a Google Alert for myself, and now I'm seeing people say my music influenced them and how great it is all the time. Sometimes I listen to this stuff that's supposed to be influenced by me, and I can't hear myself in it. But I'd rather they say it than not.
The disco sound, you must see, is not art or anything so serious.
In pop or rock you can make a fast song or a slow one, but in disco there is really just the one rhythm.
I was in Studio 54 one time; it was great. But I'm not a discotheque guy. Sometimes, if I had a new demo, I went to some discotheques to check it out - see how the reactions of the people were. But just to dance, I rarely did that.
Every business is there to make money, and making a record is business. This tends to be forgotten by many.
Unless you use the vocoder the way Daft Punk use it, it is very limited. When they sing it's almost human. It sounds sexy. I just used it as an effect. It wasn't because I was not able to sing; I'm not a great singer, but I had some hits as a singer, too. It's a nice effect.
I listen to the group Disclosure; they have great sounds. Maybe not as adventurous as Skrillex. I think the key thing is to have those beautiful sounds... the amazing sounds of Skrillex are almost phenomenal.
My music was typically continental - nothing like, say, The Beatles.
I am much more happy doing what I know I can do than what I am not sure I could do.
I love Lady Gaga, Rihanna - all the pop girls like Katy Perry. I think Miley Cyrus is very talented, too. Apart from the visuals, which you may like or not like, but her music is quite good, actually. 'Wrecking Ball' is quite a good song, and she sang it really nicely.
One of the most interesting things, at least for me, are the soundtracks for 'The Social Network' and 'Drive.' Basically, it's what I did in 'American Gigolo.' I could have done the music for those movies blindfolded. And one of them won an Oscar, and the other is this massive soundtrack.
Even when disco went out, I could still make hits. Once I had so much success, every idea became concentrated. I had so much confidence. I knew how the bass should sound, what rhythms would work. The tempos I knew: 110 to 120 BPM. I knew they would dance in the clubs in New York or anywhere.
Phil Ramone is very special. Barbra Streisand or Diana Ross... they are the best.
Nowadays you need so much money to be able to launch a new artist, notably in America; you would hardly believe the sums involved.
It is at least 10 times more difficult to get a good synthesiser sound than on an acoustic instrument.
In both pop and disco, the meaning of the lyrics is not too important. I have nothing I feel I particularly want to say.
