He still gets around

Do you think that you're going out there with a different sense of mission than you were 30 years ago?

Oh, much more! Yes. I consider myself to be a crusader of love. I try to spread love around the world as best I can because I know I have a handle on love. I'm trying to spread my love around a little bit. A lot of people need love.

What sort of reviews have you gotten from your friends or family or peers about the show? Not the reviewers, but those close to you?

Every night after the show they come and say, "Brian, the concerts get better every fucking night, how do you do it?" I say, "I'm scared. I have to do it."

Scared of what?

Rejection and all that kind of stuff. I've had some of that in my life.

Rejection of you or your music?

Well, both. Mostly me.

I know you're uncomfortable with people calling you a genius.

Not now.

Oh, now we can call you a genius?

Yeah, go ahead. I think I'm a vocal genius, not a musical genius. I like background vocals. I consider myself a voice, not a singer. A voice is a sound and singing is what you do with that sound. Have you heard that before?

No, I haven't. So you're part of a community of sound?

Right. [Smiles]

What's important to you when you sit down at the piano to write? When do you know you're on?

When I say, "Let's go to the piano," on a moment's hunch. That's when I know I'm OK. But if I say, "I wonder if I should go up and play the damn piano today," there's a difference. One's a little more inspired than the other.

But you must still play when you're not feeling inspired?

Right. I just play to play. I like the piano -- I'm always about 15 feet away from a piano.

When you wrote "Pet Sounds," you said it was the most personal album you'd ever done. Is your music today still at that level of intimacy?

Yeah, yeah. I think it makes it better. I'll never surpass "Pet Sounds."

Why?

Because the ... well, wait a minute. That's not true, actually, because I wrote a song called "How Can We Still Be Dancing?" It's a really good rock 'n' roll song and it's better than "Pet Sounds." It hasn't been recorded yet. I've written a handful of songs over the last five years, but lately, the last couple of years, I haven't been able to click at songwriting.

And will "How Can We Still Be Dancing?" be on the album you start in November?

The rock 'n' roll album? I didn't even think of that! Yeah, it'll be on that album. I love that song. I love that song a lot.

I can't hear any of it, can I?

I'll play a little of it for you. [Wilson goes to his piano and begins playing and singing an upbeat, rocking tune.]

How could we still be dancing, after all these years? How could we still be laughing, after all these tears?

[Stops midway through] It's just a good rock 'n' roll song.

Fabulous. I love it!

Thank you.

What is your hope for this album? Do the reviews matter? Do sales matter?

I don't read the reviews. I avoid them because I don't want to be depressed if they don't like it. My wife reads them. If they're bad, she'll tell me I need to sharpen up. She'll tell me I went flat on "California Girls," that sort of thing.

What can people expect of this new album?

Hard rock. Some good rock 'n' roll.

Though you said you hadn't been writing for some time.

Yeah, a couple of years. I have this month off, then I start the tour again. I should write this month, shouldn't I?

Beyond music, where do you find pleasure in the world today?

You want to know my real pleasure? Food. I love chocolate. I can't get enough chocolate. I can't help it. But my biggest pleasure of all is exercise. I really get off on exercise. I go to a park that I've claimed and run about three miles every day. I love it. Also, the tour. And believe it or not, going to sleep at night is a pleasure of mine. Really.

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