It actually started as a joke, on a ship off the coast of Pakistan during the operation to topple the Taliban. We were out there 73 straight days and going nuts trying to pass the time, so me and a couple of other guys were making up fake band names and accompanying album titles, mostly from stray comments people said. Scott Mishley, the grooviest of us, came up with a band name "The Oozing Grooves." When I decided to get back into music in 2003 after a 13 year hiatus, I went with that name. I like to think my stuff, which can really be all over the map stylistically, nonetheless consistently oozes a certain groove.

I'm between live bands at the moment, but even when I was in one, we only played covers. It was cool, we played in places like Crete and the Ukraine; but it takes a lot of trust to let a band start playing your originals, and also a lot of time. I think we had the former, but not enough of the latter. I'm very particular about the way my song is going to sound to an audience, and I have a lot of layers, both vocally and instrumentally, that would be hard to reproduce live to my satisfaction.

I think there's no question that they have toppled the music industry as we older guys used to know it. The corporate rock star machine is gone, and with it, probably most opportunities to make big money in the music industry. In its place, however, is the ability to at least get heard by people, which is one of the big reasons we make music to begin with, right? I mean, the money and groupies would have been nice, too, but at least this way people all over the world can hear an independent artist's music, whereas in the old days, it was get a contract and get airplay or else tour your brains out or nobody could hear you. So it's ironic, any schmoe like me can get exposure, but virtually nobody's making any real money at it, including the national acts.

In an instant. Even if I had to kill you to close the deal.

I was a determined young songwriter in the 1980s, pouring everything I had -- money, time and soul -- into writing and playing original music in first Dallas and then Las Vegas. But it was easy to spin one's wheels back then, and not very easy to get paid. So eventually, I gave in to the desire to eat and live indoors and I abandoned music completely in 1990. In 2003, I heard a guy playing acoustic guitar on a ship I was on, and the bug bit me again... hard. Now I'm a determined old songwriter, pouring everything I have -- money, time and soul -- into writing and recording original music.

I don't disregard any one genre just completely out of hand; but when I'm just going to listen to something, like in the car, I'm most likely to grab something with loud guitars and a strong hook. I became aware of music in the mid-70s and grew up listening to Queen and Zeppelin, etc., but it was really the 1980s, with everything from Bowie to AC/DC to The Cars to Gary Numan and Ultravox that really shaped my musical mentality. As such, I'm pretty slavish to pop sensibility when I write. I'm very structured in my writing -- a little too structured sometimes, and I insist on a strong melodic hook, a twisted bridge, lots of layers and a clever lyrical turn, or I just won't bother finishing a song I'm working on. I used to put lots of synth layers in my songs, but I got tired of being labelled retro. You can still hear a synth in there, though, here and there.

I've literally been around the world several times, and to be honest, a lot of it is the same. I love Sydney, Australia, though I've only been there once, and Melbourne and Perth, too. I totally love Paris, the French are great. I've always enjoyed Dubai, for reasons of my own, and I love Dublin, Florence, and anywhere in Australia. I'm fluent in Japanese, so I'm comfortable anywhere in Japan, and I love the food, liquor and culture there. Singapore and Hong Kong have their good points. Thailand is... well, Thailand. I enjoyed Sevastopol immensely, which surprised me; there isn't an unattractive woman in that whole city, and I had fun in Varna, Bulgaria. Dubrovnik, Croatia is gorgeous, if a bit boring and overpriced. The big knock against it was the lack of nightlife. Being a true gentleman, I just can't really get into a city with no "gentlemen's clubs."

I was a synth player in the 1980s, now I've morphed myself into a guitarist to shed my "retro" image somewhat. So my gear locker is mostly guitars, which I like to customize: Line 6 Variax 500 with custom neck/ebony fretboard, and custom pickguard. Three Washburns: WG587 7-string customized with Duncan pickups ('59 neck/Distortion bridge), WI66PROe with ebony fretboard, gothic cross inlay, and EMG 81/85 pickups, and a stock X40 Pro. Squier mini-strat for my 5-year-old, which I also bash around on when I want to get nuts, and I'm rebuilding a crazy old 1980s Hondo Explorer. I play an ESP B55 (5-string) for the bass lines. For amps, I use Guitar Rig in the studio and a Behringer V-ampire LX112 which I customized with a twice-as-loud Eminence Legend speaker. For recording, I'm weening off of a Yamaha AW4416 and switching to Nuendo, with the full suite of Waves, NI and Blue Tubes plug-ins. I also use an old Korg M1 as my midi keyboard. I've lots of rack gear, but I'm selling it off little by little as I convert to a digital-only solution.

Yeah, thanks for coming by the hotel to interview me. On your way out, could you send in the maid?