Q: Your growing up poor—how did that affect the way you view money?
A: Well, I’ve never had enough of it, really, to alter my perception of anything. I don’t have huge bank accounts. I’d love one. But it wouldn’t change much. I don’t have any expensive habits. I’m not a car collector or any of that nonsense. But I’d love to be incredibly wealthy for no reason at all.

Q: You must have some indulgences—wine or rare books or something.
A: No. None. No bad habits at all. No! No! Just not interested in it. Anything that becomes a routine is of no interest to me.

Q: Are you a tea drinker?
A: Well, that’s just because I’m British. I mean, we drink that stuff from the minute we wake up to the minute we go to bed. I don’t see that as a routine, because every cup is different from the one before.

Q: Do you have a preference?
A: Anything that says “English breakfast” will do. It’s a good kick. I like the caffeine kick in tea. Otherwise I’m just dreary all day long.

Q: Anything else?
A: I bought this stupid juicer. Oh God, the mess I made.

Q: So, um, you make juice?
A: Yeah, well, I have to now, because I bought the damn thing. Sixty dollars’ worth of bleedin’ nonsense! It’s impossible to keep clean. I’ll tell you what it is—it’s a harbinger of mold and fungus.

Q: It’s interesting that you mention this attempt at healthy eating, because many of your contemporaries from the punk years—three of the Ramones and Joe Strummer from the Clash—have all died in the past few years.
A: Yeah, and I know quite a few, too. Sad. They’re all kicking the bucket. I don’t know—is it they made themselves ill? I’m sort of of the belief that people kill themselves from the inside out. When they’re unhappy with what they’re doing, or not achieving things—when your focus is off-kilter. The thing that keeps me ticking is my values. And I maintain them, because they’re worthy. I like to wake up and feel I’ve done no wrong. I like that feeling. It’s a reward in itself. Whereas money would never take that place, ever.

Q: You’re known as a very contentious person. To look back at your biography is to see a series of disputes with people.
A: I don’t tolerate liars. When somebody lies to me, that’s really, like, just unbearable. But there’s a definite reason for that, and that’s the meningitis I had as a child. I came out of a coma. I was in a coma for four months. I didn’t even know who I was for five years after that. Because your memory is just, you know, not there. It takes time to come back. And so I would be totally believing everything everybody told me, and so when I found out that half of those things were lies, it really disturbed me, because I was dependent on the truth. And that’s stuck with me throughout my life. Even now, I haven’t mellowed in that respect. I don’t like people lying to me, not even about the smallest things. I find it inexcusable.