"Gus is the best. Idaho was one of the first movies with which I fell in love. I would watch it repeatedly when I was a teenager. River Phoenix gives the performance of a lifetime, original and inspiring. As a young actor, I needed nothing more than this performance for inspiration. The film is a collage of techniques, plots, and themes, expertly wound together as only Van Sant is able to do. When Criterion released this DVD with a film-length interview between Todd Haynes and Gus, it was a gold mine for an acolyte like me. There are also great old magazine articles, and an odd conversation with J. T. Leroy, before he was exposed. Mala Noche is Gus’s first film. He financed it with his own money. It’s a great early glimpse into many of the themes that continue to consume him."

"Gus is the best. Idaho was one of the first movies with which I fell in love. I would watch it repeatedly when I was a teenager. River Phoenix gives the performance of a lifetime, original and inspiring. As a young actor, I needed nothing more than this performance for inspiration. The film is a collage of techniques, plots, and themes, expertly wound together as only Van Sant is able to do. When Criterion released this DVD with a film-length interview between Todd Haynes and Gus, it was a gold mine for an acolyte like me. There are also great old magazine articles, and an odd conversation with J. T. Leroy, before he was exposed. Mala Noche is Gus’s first film. He financed it with his own money. It’s a great early glimpse into many of the themes that continue to consume him."

"I think this song is an early example of me hearing something and realising that a song doesn't just have to be guitar and bass and drums - a song can just be whatever you want to make it. I actually first discovered Suicide through Bruce Springsteen; he spoke about how much they had been a big influence on his record Nebraska. The song ‘State Trooper ’is very similar to it and he said in an interview that he was trying to do what Suicide does. This was a reference because of its sonic palette. In the back half of my song ‘Savannah’ there's this spoken word moment that happens in this underlying low bass tone that I'm talking over and it was definitely influenced by this song. It has a tremolo on it and the song’s shaking in this way that ‘Ghost Rider’ does."