I was a prefect at school, I never had a tattoo, got a detention or pierced my ears more than once.
I've had everything pierced at some point.
I have a Rolex, but no diamonds. Rappers wear diamonds to compensate for a lack of fashion sense. I don't even have pierced ears - I'm not into that; it's too much.
Informed consent is required for every invasive medical procedure, from getting your ears pierced to having an abortion.
Caracas was a crazy place in the early Nineties. For instance, when I was 11 years old, I pierced my ear. No big deal, right? But everyone was so scandalised that they shut down the school.
There was nothing girlish about me. I wore clothes hand-stitched by my mother... I had only one ear pierced and preferred loose shirts and trousers. I think I was imitating my father!
I heard Skip James, and it pierced me. It felt like punk rock to me, real and raw. It was just one guitar, so simple yet so much expression. I wanted to feel and express like that, to take the shortest path to get to an emotion.
People who are pierced should not be snickered at, should not become the object of ridicule, should not be singled out for special and uneven and unequal treatment. They should be respected just like everybody else.
Tears of joy are like the summer rain drops pierced by sunbeams.
I'm sick of all these labels and these manufactured subdivisions of music that don't even exist. And even though I'm pierced myself, I'm sick of everyone equating body piercing with musical courage. If you ask me, it takes a lot more than that.
