What I've Learned (Esquire August 2003)

When things are good I'm right up there, when they're bad I'm terrible. I'm half Italian; it makes me quite passionate about things but at the same time I can be very chilled - I go to extremes. In Naples they like to celebrate the life and death aspect of everything and I'm like that.
I can imagine leaving everything behind. I can be a real gadget-head, but when I tour I really get into the idea of not having much, just living out of suitcase. I regularly purge my place, give stuff'away.
I thought the net was the ultimate source of freedom - shared information, shared knowledge - but now it's a way of keepingtabs on you. Surveillance is on the increase in our lives and the threat of terror is being used to monitor us. You never know who's watching you.
Sex-related scandals are what papers thrive on. It's the best way to try and destroy a person. When I was arrested, it was a non-reality to me. The only place it seemed to live was in the papers. It was like reading about someone
else's life. I have never looked at child pornography. I was happy to talk to the police about it and sort it out but someone went to the papers. They tried to destroy my reputation. I didn't think I had a reputation to destroy.
I found out something about people I didn't know. I was very apprehensive about going home but everyone rallied round and supported me, not just friends and family, everyone. People in pubs and restaurants were coming up to me and giving me encouragement.
What I've been through has only increased my conviction to stick with what I believe. I will never compromise. I could have crumbled but I believe in myself. I have total clarity about what I do.
In the record industry, development isn't an option any more. When I sit down with my label and talk about the future of Massive Attack it seems a bit abstract. I know what I want to do but whether it tallies with what they expect from us I don't know.
Everyone should have a special talent. Like wiggling your ears, doing wheelies or whistling really loudly. I can't do anything like that and I've always wanted to.
When you paint, you need to give yourself a total space. I lose myself totally when I paint. Hours disappear, I stay up all night. Great art should give you a buzz. Basquiat's painting of Duke Ellington is such a vibrant thing, it just leaps out at you.
I've never felt religious, Idon't believe it. All religions are corrupt. I went to a Catholic school for a year but my parents took me out. I went to a Catholic school for a year but my parents took me out. I didn;t understand it.
Bombing for peace is like rucking for virginity. War has never solved anything. Most wars sow the seeds of future conflict. The only people who benefit are politicians and industrialists.
Bristol is the graveyard of ambition. You can get a lot of nothing done one of the reasons is spliff. It's a city of serious smokers, it's as much a part of the culture as cider.
Graffiti is art. Art is self-expression, a way of announcing yourself to the world. Graffiti was about communication - confirmation from one group of people to another that they existed. But now that's all changed, saturation has killed it.
Parks are an education. I used to spend all my time down the park when I was a kid. I learned to ride a bicycle there, had my first fall, I threw my first snowball, had my first kiss, dropped my first E.
Drugs help you lose all self-consciousness. Getting out of your head is useful-you escape from yourself, you escape from the usual trappings of your personality. When the police searched my house, they found some ecstasy. I had to see a drug's counsellor. He went through the patter he reserves for crackheads and then he asked me if I could get him on the guest list for our next gig.
Puberty can drive you nuts. l stopped going to school, started sniffing glue and hanging out with squatters. I've never stopped apologising to my parents for that phase of my life.
You can't keep partying forever. You hit a few brick walls as you grow up.
Cooking is pure alchemy. I love to experiment with stuff. The way herbs and spices interact is fascinating. When you get the garlic and the oil on the go and a glass of wine in your hand, you can't beat that moment.
The cult of personality is killing journalism. Everyone has a picture by their article these days. All you seem to get is opinion and views, not hard facts.
I'm not a celebrity. I find that a hard notion to accept
Old age scares me. The older you get, the closer you edge to death. Anyone who says that doesn't bother them is a liar.
Drugs and Subbuteo don't mix. I was really into Subbuteo for a while. I'd come
home hammered and end up breaking all the figures.

3D was talking to Mike Pattenden.