You're never lonely if you can play the guitar.

The great thing about Chic is that we were totally anonymous. I'll never forget the night Bernard Edwards, my co-writer, and I went to this big award ceremony and met the Bee Gees. I guess the Bee Gees expected to win everything, as they had the last couple of years. But this night we won everything. They were in the bathroom peeing, going,'Who the hell are Chic?' And we were standing right next to them.

You don't have to be able to dance to make good dance music. Hell, no. I can't dance worth shit.

Cocaine is not an aid to creativity. Cocaine was just cocaine. It was the same thing as drinking or the same thing as acid, when I was younger, or the same thing as sniffing glue when I first started. Cocaine was just part of what you were doing.

Le Freak was inspired by not getting into Studio 54. Grace Jones ruled the nightclub scene and decided she wanted us to produce her next album. She told us to come and meet her on New Year's Eve at Studio 54, but we weren't on the list. We said, 'We're Chic', and the guy on the door said 'Chic? Shit!' So we went to my apartment and started playing this riff - me and Bernard going, [sings], 'Aaaaaaaah, fuck off!' But we changed it to 'freak out', like when you drop acid.

When it comes to dealing with women I'm a super, super romantic guy. But I probably have what they call Don Juan syndrome: which is, every time I meet a girl - every single one - on some level there's flirtation involved. I was friends with an actor by the name of Malcolm-Jamal Warner who worked on The Cosby Show. And Bill Cosby noticed that Malcolm had a wandering eye. And he pulled him aside and said to him, 'Son, there are many, many beautiful women in this world - but you can't have all of them.'

Then he said, 'Once you realise that, it will give you peace.' And it's true.

The toughest thing in your life is when you're accustomed to putting out hits, and that stops happening. There came a time when I would go to the office and it would be like, oh man, not another platinum record. Then the whole 'disco sucks' movement came along and the party ended. Once people said our music sucked before they'd even heard it, we didn't have a chance.

I'm a horrible businessman. The worst. But all the people I admire, they make money and they lose it. When I made Let's Dance with David Bowie he said, 'Nile, we've got to stick to this budget.' I said, 'Why? You're David Bowie!' He's like, 'No, we've got to stick to the budget.' Same thing with Mick Jagger. And that's because everybody has done it, lost it, done it, lost it. We're in the risk business.

Producing Madonna was one of the best experiences of my life. People always ask me, do I feel bad that we never worked together on a second album. I say, you must be nuts. Thank God she was smart enough to know, you can't replicate that.

Duran Duran have gotten the short end of the stick. When we're all dead and gone people are gonna look back and realise how amazing they were. Even the records I didn't do!

The music industry is really screwed. The last artistic area of complete revolutionary freedom was music. Because even the big corporations had to dance to our tune. Now we have to do it on their terms. It's over.

I love being a liberal. Now, in America, liberal is a bad word. But being liberal means you have an open mind. To me, dogmatic is bad. The last thing you want to have is a mind that can't be changed. Who wants to live like that?

One thing that Nick Rhodes told me years ago... He said, 'You know, Nile, if you want to get ahead, get a hat.' I love hats now. They're such a great fashion accessory. They're incredibly convenient when your hair's all over the place - especially if you've got dreadlocks.

If I have nothing more, I have the ability to focus and work to the point where it's insane. Goddamn, do I have that.

· Chic are touring the UK from 4-11 October, for information call 08712 200 260.