Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia and Frank Zappa are my three favorite electric guitarists. I'll add Robert Fripp and Duane Allman to that list. Sometimes I think they brought the same thing by traveling different roads. It's a method of stretching out that is similar. The biggest thing I learned was from Jerry. He taught me subtlety, the emotional power of a quiet phrase. I saw a Dead show at the Hartford [Connecticut] Civic Center in 1982 that was a life-changing event for me. I had seen them before but was too busy talking to people and not getting into it. But at this show, I went off by myself. It completely changed my perception of what was possible. The entire time, I was completely tuned in to what Jerry was playing. The whole thing had a logical form to it, and it was just heart-wrenchingly beautiful. I always thought an arena show meant "entertainment," but after that, I realized that it could be such an emotional event.

As far as new guitarists, the guy I love the most is Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine. He's the absolute best. I think Loveless is the defining album of the Nineties as far as sound goes. Oh, my God, I've never heard anything like that before. That record was the Number One choice for me and Fish, our drummer, to cover at the last Halloween show. I had the whole thing figured out: I wanted to have five amps all lined up, with a slight delay between each one so it sounded like there were five different sounds coming out of it. But Fish and I got outvoted, so we did Loaded instead. Maybe next year.