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Quote by David Grubbs

“The word 'archive' seems so reassuring, but I have a lot ofconcern over the longevity of documentary materials.”

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David Grubbs, born on September 21, 1967, is a talented singer whose musical career began in the early 1990s. He is known for his unique musical style and diverse artistic practices. more

“Otherwise the history just gets completely flattened out, and people imagine that everything was always available and accessible. One of the things that struck me was the way in which the landscape of experimental music seemed different at different points in time, on the basis of where one was situated geographically, if one had access to live performances, and what was released at a particular time.”

People Different Imagine Imagine That

Author:David Grubbs

“As there are more online archives of improvised music, it becomes more like the daily practice of playing it. It lessens the idea of there being masterpieces of improvised music through benchmark recordings.”

Online Masterpiece

Author:David Grubbs

“I recall improvisational drummer and composer Michael Evans telling me a story of someone who had the opportunity to meet Cage and give him a record, and John Cage just smiled and said, "You know I have nothing to play this on?"”

Giving Opportunity Composer Drummer Just Smile

Author:David Grubbs

“There's a book of interviews with John Cage by Joan Retallack called Musicage that was finished the summer that he died, in 1992. And in one of the last interviews, he was very excited to talk about nanotechnology. There's real technophilia from him, a kind of utopian embrace of the idea that nanotechnology will free people up to do what they really want to do.”

People Kind Book Real Summer Embrace Excited Utopian

Author:David Grubbs

“My experience that undergirds that observation comes from punk, where people might have scraped together the money to be in the studio for an afternoon to make a record. Punk isn't a music that you think of as chance-based, but exigency has a lot to do with it.”

People Thinking Together Observation Punk

Author:David Grubbs

“Chance in music doesn't have to involve the I Ching or rolling dice or throwing yarrow stalks. It can involve an out-of-tune guitar, or other impossible-to-replicate moments of awkwardness - even more so than an awkward, out-of-tune live performance, because there's something incredible about the way that an out-of-tune guitar becomes part of the song on a record. I won't be precious and say it's part of the composition - that's nonsensica l - but chance occurrences are so crucial to what's distinctive. It's the fingerprints all over so many of these recordings.”

Moments Song Chance Incredibles Awkward Composition Stalking Awkwardness

Author:David Grubbs

“The word "archive" seems so reassuring, but I'm not sure about these things that are now being called archives. Is anything lost by the fact that the word has come to mean so many more things.”

Mean Not Sure Reassuring

Author:David Grubbs

“Kenny Goldsmith from Ubuweb describes himself as an amateur archivist, and people can download files from Ubuweb - it's not a streaming service. But it's a miracle that it's still online and they're able to make it work through the donations of server space and volunteer efforts.”

People Effort Miracle Online Volunteer Donation Streaming Server Kenny

Author:David Grubbs

“That's correct, I flunked out of high school twice because I couldn't write.”

Writing School High School Flunking

Author:Robert Kiyosaki

Quote by David Grubbs

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