Before performing, The Stooges famously entered O’Mind. Can you describe O’Mind for us and can you tell us how you prepare yourself to play now?
Rose, Greenwich
That would usually come up when Ron Asheton and Dave [Alexander] had smoked a whole bunch of dope: ‘Wow, I’m O’Mind, maaaan!’ It meant to lose perspective of the normal signposts and signals of accepted human existence. The advantage of it creatively is that you are then in that “explorer” position in which you can find new visions and signs and symbols. That was kind of the idea. These days I just become very angry and unreasonable in a split second should anything or anybody want to bother me about fuck all on a day that I’m going to sing. It’s just because I care. It’s still a big deal. Before I go on I think about little details like: ‘What exactly is the hidden cue from the lead guitar that will take me to the beginning of the conclusion of song number one?’ And: ‘Where am I going to get a sip of water?’ Those things will lead to a sudden vision. I don’t get there by closing my eyes, sitting in a lotus position and saying the words “Tina Turner” over and over again, although I do a little bit of breathing and movement.

I need abs like yours. How many reps do you do a day?
Mel, Newbury
What can I tell you? I’m high strung, a nervous type of person, and I’ve involuntarily tightened them a lot. In the past, when I’d see myself getting too sloppy, I’d do 25 sit ups a day and that seemed to sort it out. It helps not to eat a ton, but a lot of it is just genetic. I’m not that abby right now – I’ve got a two-pack rather than a six-pack. It doesn’t help that the Daoist exercise I do is about breathing deep into your diaphragm, and if you get good enough at that it looks like you’ve swallowed a volleyball.

Iggy, my copy of Metallic K.O. seems to end with the sound of a bottle bouncing off your head. Is that what happened?
Ian Rankin
No, Ian, I don’t think they got me at that gig, hence some boastful comments on my part along the lines of, “Ha, missed again!” I did end up with a pistol in my gut in the parking lot afterwards, but that was another story and I can’t reveal any more about it now that I’ve become an old git. They didn’t hit me with anything that night, though a couple of nights before, I got knocked out briefly by a guy with a knuckle duster.