Among the CDs I find at the Mediatheque is a recent Zorn issue inspired by the works of William Blake. This sets me off catching up on what he's doing these days, memories of a geeky teenager sitting in front of a staggering record collection in the 80s talking about composition on file cards still linger. In fact, this very sequence is available via YouTube plus a not so long ago print-based interview ...

"And people don’t appreciate that. They think we’re out here balling, you know? It’s not that way. It’s hard work, and you get isolated. And you get distracted by the normal human need for companionship and love and understanding and appreciation. Those are distractions from doing the work, I feel. That’s why I can’t read magazines or newspapers, I don’t look at TV. I try to focus on what’s important, which is really the work itself. Making sure that you do the best possible thing in the purest possible way with the most imagination and technique and honesty that you can pull together. ... We live with it every single microsecond of every day. I’m constantly in doubt about what I’m doing, I’m constantly tortured, and that’s why I say happiness is irrelevant. Happiness is for children and yuppies. I’m not striving for happiness, I’m trying to get some work done. And sometimes the best work is done under doubt. Constant rethinking, and reevaluating what you’re doing, working and working until you feel it’s finished. And that’s an interesting point too, that you’ve got to know when to stop. Sometimes there’s a magical moment when everything comes together."

(John Zorn speaking to with Mike Goldberg in Bomb magazine - Google & you'll find it)