“I've never approached classical music in a formal way, ever. I couldn't read very well. I'd have to play every piece and internalize it, almost as if I had written it myself.” IfsWayWellsPlayPiecesWrittenFormalClassical Music Author:Andrew Bird
“The orchestra's an amazing instrument, but I don't want to just arrange my songs for it. I think that might be kind of boring and a little bit overdramatic, perhaps. I'm still just having too much fun doing it my way, for the time being.” ThinkingWayWantKindLittlesStillsMightSongFunBitsToo MuchLittle BitInstrumentsBoringMy WayBe KindOrchestraToo Much Fun Author:Andrew Bird
“Playing the violin and singing and whistling are just three different ways of making sound. It's not trying to replace a band, per se. It's become a completely different thing. And it's not just simply an effect. It's just a very surprisingly intuitive thing.” WayTryingDifferentThreeSoundEffectsBandSingingDifferent WaysDifferent ThingsIntuitiveViolinWhistling Author:Andrew Bird
“In New York, I'm playing in a church, solo, doing instrumental stuff. There's talk of doing more, like, installation-type things with some of the specimen horns I've played through. Just filling a room in a museum with these horn-speaker sculptures and then making loops that run all day, and you walk around the room and sort of mix the sound by where you stand. That's all way in the future, but that kind of stuff is a different way of thinking about performing.” ThinkingWayKindDifferentRunningStuffSoundChurchWalksRoomsNew YorkTypePerformingDifferent WaysMuseumsSpeakersSoloSculptureFillingHornsWay Of ThinkingLoopsWhere You StandInstallation Author:Andrew Bird
“With the words, a lot of things start with questions. Some word kind of piques my interest, and I love the way it sounds, but I really don't know what it means. And I honestly don't care for a while.” KnowsWayKindMeanCareSoundInterestDon't CareHonestlyPique Author:Andrew Bird
“When I start asking my friends, "What do you think this means?" And it leads to way more interesting conversations than what it actually ends up meaning in the dictionary. Like "apocryphal," for instance.” ThinkingWayMeanEndsInterestingConversationMy FriendsAskingInstanceDictionaryInteresting Conversation Author:Andrew Bird
“I think jazz was just seeking respect and validity because a lot of people didn't believe it was a viable art form, and then they got a lot of attention in Europe. A lot of bands that can't catch flies in the US have these followings in Europe, [but] it's less and less the case. American audiences are way more sophisticated and adventurous than anyone thinks that they are.” PeopleThinkingWayBelieveArtFormAttentionCasesAudienceBandEuropeJazzSeekingFollowingSophisticatedAdventurousValidity Author:Andrew Bird
“There's kind of this unequaled thrill of playing a half-finished song, it's kind of sense of slight embarrassment; like you're blushing. I like doing that. I did that with "Eyeoneye" and it was almost a curse on the song for a while; I debuted it when it was half-finished in a very public way” WayKindSongHalfLike YouFinishedCurseThrillEmbarrassmentBlushing Author:Andrew Bird
“The first splurge of creativity is kind of free, and the last 30 percent is painstakingly hard work, but it's good to light a fire and make it public and create that expectation. It's become part of the writing process, really, a way to ask the audience what they think, how they think it's going. I can't write songs in a vacuum.” ThinkingWayWritingFirstsKindI CanHardLightLastsSongAsksProcessCreativityAudienceFireHard WorkExpectationsPercentWriting ProcessVacuums Author:Andrew Bird
“Playing the violin and singing and whistling are just three different ways of making sound.” WayDifferentThreeSoundSingingDifferent WaysViolinWhistling Author:Andrew Bird
“The way I work, I'm not a confessional singer-songwriter.” WaySingersSongwritersSinger Songwriters Author:Andrew Bird
