What a great interview, addressing a really important shift in our idea of how music (or any creative endeavor, really) might be handled these days. "What's the point of a bank if they haven't got any money?" Well said. With the trickle (if anything) that companies will pay for promotion these days, the artist ends up having to do all the work anyway. The only thing a big house can offer is distribution-- and if you aren't on their special list of artists, you won't get the distribution anyway.
Good stuff. Thanks for posting Paul!