As far as I’m aware, Tom Waits gave only one interview for his last album. It was for the Take 5 radio show on ABC (Australia), with Zan Rowe. And it’s a real gem.
http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/take-5/tom-waits-take-5/9671280
The format of the show is a bit like Desert Island Discs, where musicians pick 5 tracks from their heroes and talk about how they were inspired by them.
And yes, Waits has given plenty of interviews before, but it’s so rare to hear him ‘off duty’, where he is not riffing like a comedian doing a surreal stream-of-consciousness routine. Here he talks in a depth I’ve never heard before about how he makes music, and the challenges of it.
And if you’re a Waits fan like me, it’s charming as hell.