For me, if the music is good, whether the artist is famous or unknown, I love being part of the music and contributing what I can to the bass end.
People should decide what success means for them, and not be distracted by accepting others' definitions of success.
I'm in that comfortable niche where I'm not that famous and sometimes people do need to put a barrier between them and their followers. When you're real famous you need to do that but I'm not that famous so I don't need that kind of barrier.
From my time in 'King Crimson,' I'd describe a Progressive band as one that keeps trying to break musical barriers, and keeps trying to do new music.
Like most musicians, I'm good at becoming immersed in the music that I am currently working on. We seldom lift up our heads to contemplate even the music we will be doing in the future, let alone what we've done in the past.
We all have different musical instincts, and I think they're precious and should be respected.
Like many musicians, I don't look back much... only concentrate on what music I'm doing, and occasionally look ahead.
Yes, alas, I've been on some recording sessions where the music wasn't good. Not so many, really, considering how many I've done. It's a very awkward situation because to do a recording well you focus on the positive of what will make the piece better.