“I think that the most effective social protest that any artist can do would be things that come naturally and feel obvious. I think the Resist movement will continue among people who believe in science, who believe in rights for women, who believe in civil rights.” PeopleThinkingBelieveArtistObviousCivil RightsProtest Author:John Flansburgh
“I don't think bands should feel compelled to speak out unless they actually have something to say. I think that's a big mistake, where you're turning into a coyote running off the edge of a cliff. Too often, people just feel like something is happening and they want to be part of this thing, and it's just, there's sort of a "me too!" and that's about it.” PeopleThinkingRunningSpeakMistakeBig Mistake Author:John Flansburgh
“It sucks to think about, honestly, but when you really consider the resources that it takes to press vinyl records, or the amount of gas that it takes to tour, it's really quite scary.” ThinkingScaryHonestlyGasVinyl Author:John Flansburgh
“I don't lose a lot of sleep worrying about aliens, but I think it seems possible that there's life forms beyond our solar system.” ThinkingSleepWorryAliensSolar System Author:John Flansburgh
“The simplest app on your smartphone requires 40 peoples' purest imagination. The challenges with people on environment, we just have to open some of that creativity. But I don't think it's necessarily about heating clouds or enormous chemical changes in the atmosphere.” PeopleThinkingImaginationChallengesCreativityEnvironmentAtmosphere Author:John Flansburgh
“The main thing that we're doing is thinking we can control anything, which is the biggest false assumption we can make. I think we can figure out how to tread a lot more lightly on the environment, and we'll be a lot better off.” ThinkingEnvironmentAssumption Author:John Flansburgh
“When we're on tour, probably we don't go 24 hours without someone asking us where we came up with the name They Might Be Giants. Which, on one level, seems like a completely legitimate question. If I think of other bands, like The Beatles, it would explain to me that John Lennon had a proclivity for slightly cheap puns. But I'm not sure how much insight that would give me into what's actually good about The Beatles' music.” ThinkingGivingHoursInsightNot SurePun Author:John Flansburgh
“Actually, on a slightly more serious but kind of parallel level, I remember being on Loveline before both hosts ascended into loftier places in the culture. But I remember being shocked by Dr. Drew. He went into this extended monologue about how anyone with a baby voice is probably the victim of child abuse or has some daddy issue. As an intellectually curious person, all I could think is that there isn't any clinical evidence about that. But to be the guy wearing the doctor's hat on the radio and teaching everybody about this? It just seemed like a parody of good advice.” ThinkingKindChildrenRememberGuyCultureTeachingAdviceSeriousBabyEvidenceAbuseVictimCuriousHostChild AbuseDaddyGood Advice Author:John Flansburgh
“You're like, "I don't want to argue with Dr. Drew on national radio." You're like the invited guest. But at the same time, as a thinking person, it's very difficult just to stand by and go, "Yeah, man, it's cool."” ThinkingMenDifficultArguing Author:John Flansburgh
“I think the biggest wrestling match-up I have is how to respond to the word "quirky." Or the alternate, "nerdy." Both are essentially benign to the reader, but if you're a writer just sort of involved in your creative process, they seem like very small motivations.” ThinkingMotivationCreativeWrestlingCreative ProcessQuirky Author:John Flansburgh
“Between me and my wife, there's this joke where I'll be doing some fun interview, and I'll get off the phone and be like, "That guy was an idiot." A lot of times, interviews are like being asked a list of questions. Invariably, there will be this part where they think you're a writer for Letterman: "Just off the top of your head, tell me the 10 most influential bands on you." And you're actually asked to come up with a spontaneous list. It's like, "Dude, I'm not living in High Fidelity."” ThinkingGuyFunWifeJokesMy WifeIdiotSpontaneousInfluentialFidelityLetterman Author:John Flansburgh
“I read The Onion, and I've read a lot of interviews that are very direct, often with people who are never direct. Which is interesting. But somehow the A.V.Club part of The Onion, I don't think is telegraphed into the popular culture.” PeopleThinkingCultureInterestingDirectPopular Culture Author:John Flansburgh
“That really sums up the strange bluntness that a really prime German interview can have. They're really interested in your cultural velocity in this way that I don't think people in the United States even necessarily think about alternative-rock bands. So it's not like we're against regular rock. We're not like a battling army shaking our weapons against The Rolling Stones.” PeopleThinkingStrangeArmyShakingRolling Stones Author:John Flansburgh
“Being in a band, a lot of times people think of what you're doing in terms of a competition. They talk about where you are professionally in your career, and all this other stuff. And if you're a lifer, you know it's going to be ups and downs. It's not like anybody is always just steady on.” PeopleThinkingTermCompetitionSteadyUps & Downs Author:John Flansburgh
“There have been times I wanted to cry on interview, but it hasn't been because that's what they're trying to conjure. No. I think you have to graduate to some higher level of TV IQ for people to actually want to see you cry.” PeopleThinkingTryingCryGraduates Author:John Flansburgh
