Police drummer Stewart Copeland was recently interviewed for MusicRadar.com and discusses Rush and his friendship with Neil Peart. Both drummers appeared on Drum Solo Week on David Letterman last year and Neil had mentioned in another interview that Copeland was anti drum solo. Here's how Copeland reacted to that comment:

... Mmm... not so much. I pull Neil's chain on this at every possible opportunity, of course. You know, when I was a kid, I dreamed of playing a 17-hour drum solo. Then I grew up. ...

He was also asked about how Rush's early '80s music was somewhat influenced by The Police:

... "I had only heard of it. I didn't actually listen to Rush albums, and I couldn't tell you one from the other - although Neil is a good buddy. [laughs] We agreed to disagree on certain things, and it is a measure of his greatness as a human being that he is completely over whatever my feelings might be about Rush.

"This truly is the case: He's never heard me say a wonderful thing about his band. He's read a few comments that I wish he hadn't read. In unguarded moments, things tend to slip out. Musicians tend to be snippy about one another, and I'm generally not. I generally love all music and all players.

"There was a time when bands like Rush were the epitome of what The Police were theoretically against, which was an overemphasis on musicality. Our ethos in the early days was about the primal scream and that musical technique was a distraction from that mission. There may have been a few comments that I might have made regarding Rush's position on that debate, and it is really, really to Neil's credit that he's over that debate. And we get along great." ...

You can read the entire interview at this link.

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