On his soapbox: Andy Weatherall

Andy Weatherall, producer of Primal Scream's Screamadelica and all-round maverick, on why he's shunned the lure of major-label lucre...

I've never been on a big label. All I know is that there's an equation where the more money a record label gives you, the more shit they are entitled to give you. The label we're on, Warp Records, give us a reasonable amount of shit for a reasonable amount of money. I can't work in those upper echelons because I have a low twat threshold. If I'm in a business meeting and somebody says something stupid then it just brings out the thug in me. That's why I can't mix business and art - someone justifying their £300,000-a-year job has to say something in a meeting and most of the time it's stupid. I just end up going 'f*** it'.

I had a brief glimpse of that world and I didn't like it. Call me unambitious if you like but the more money a label gives you, the more you're at their beck and call and the less time you spend in the studio. Which means less time doing what they're paying you to do. It just seems ridiculous.