“There's no point in bringing together a talented band if you don't let them do their thing.” IfsTogetherBandNo Point Author:Imelda May
“When I was younger, bands helped me connect to part of my humanity; bands that had nothing to do with anything political helped to form me. There's a correlation in that: If people can connect to music, maybe they can connect to each other.” PeopleIfsFormPoliticalHumanityBandCorrelation Author:Win Butler
“The world is full of bands and bullshit, and if I'm doing a stupid art project like rock 'n' roll then I want to spare my audience as much as possible.” IfsWorldWantArtAudienceRocksStupidBandProjectsRock N RollBullshitSparesArt Projects Author:Ariel Pink
“I wouldn't go into the studio if I didn't have a band who's ready, willing, and able.” IfsAbleWillingReadyBandStudios Author:Cass McCombs
“When I was in high school, if my favorite band got too popular, I'd watch carefully.” IfsSchoolWatchesBandHigh SchoolMy FavoriteFavorite Bands Author:Mike Shinoda
“I hated school . . . I freaking hated it. The fact is that it revolved around something you didn't have access to. If you weren't on the football team, if you were in the band, you were a leper. When people say those were the best years of our lives, I want to scream.” PeopleIfsWantYearsFactsSchoolOur LivesTeamFootballBandAccessHatedScreamFootball TeamBest YearLeper Author:Trent Reznor
“Before MTV, if you put out an album that sold 50,000 copies, your band could afford not to have day jobs for a while. That meant you could stick around, put out another album or two. Maybe it would be the second or third album where you'd make the statement you'd been trying to make all along.” IfsTryingTwoWould BeJobsBandThirdsSticksAlbumsStatementsCopiesMtvDay Jobs Author:Mark Mothersbaugh
“I've had a very different career than a lot of other musicians. I went through the major labels. I was signed to two major labels and bands. I've toured with Aerosmith, and I've had records on the charts, songs in the movies. If you had checklist of things a person wants to accomplish in music...I've done a lot. And I don't mean that in an egotistical way; I never take it for granted. But you can't think outside the box unless you know what's in the box.” IfsThinkingKnowsWayWantMeanPersonsTwoDifferentDoneSongCareersRecordsBandMajorsMusicianBoxesAccomplishGrantedLabelsEgotisticalOutside The BoxThink Outside The BoxChecklistsAerosmith Author:Michael Angelo Batio
“We set out to become a band for our time. But sometimes if you do a good-enough job, you become a band for all time.” IfsSometimesEnoughJobsBandAll TimeOur TimeGood Enough Author:Glenn Frey
“Strip clubs are the only place the band can go if we want to have a drink. You're left alone because the last thing the people there care about is us.” PeopleIfsWantCareLastsLeftDrinkBandClubsLeft Alone Author:Scott Stapp
“Every band should study Queen at Live Aid. If you really feel like that barrier is gone, you become Freddie Mercury. I consider him the greatest frontman of all time. Like, it's funny? You'd imagine that Freddie was more than human, but... You know how he controlled Wembley Stadium at Live Aid in 1985? He stood up there and did his vocal warm ups with the audience. Something that intimate, where they realize, 'Oh yeah, he's just a f***ing dude.'” IfsKnowsFeelsShouldHumansRealizingAudienceKnow HowGoneStudyImagineBandYeahWarmAidsAll TimeQueensIntimateBarriersControlledImagine ThatVocalStadiumsStood UpMercury Author:Dave Grohl
“I was in rock music in London when it was the height of Brit pop, with The Kinks revival and Suede and Blur and Oasis, and all of those really great bands that were of a certain style. If I'd really been smart and commercially minded, I would have just got myself a blazer and some Stay Press and some Fred Perry tops, and just gone out and tried to do it like everyone else. Instead, I did this ridiculous thing of trying to do this music.” IfsTryingCertainGoneRocksStyleBandSmartPressesPopsLondonRidiculousHeightReally GreatRevivalRock MusicBlurOasisBritsKinkBlazersRidiculous Things Author:Gavin Rossdale
“If you have a great band with a mediocre drummer, you have a mediocre band. If you have a mediocre band with a great drummer, you have a great band!” IfsBandMediocreDrummer Author:Duke Ellington
“Names for bands lose their meaning after a little while. They become a series of sounds that you associate with people in music, really. The most important thing about choosing a name for a band is if you can imagine forty-thousand people screaming it in unison.” PeopleIfsLittlesImportantNamesSoundLosesImagineThousandBandImportant ThingsSeriesFortyAssociatesUnison Author:Brian Molko
“That's the great thing about being in a band: it's a gang for people who are too wimpy to fight. You can create a gang and have an identity and fight for something and stand up for something just by making pop songs. They're my gang members and gang members are for life, and if you try and leave, we execute you. That's the way it goes. A simple bang, back of the head, into the river, and we keep moving on.” PeopleIfsWayTryingMovingSongFightingSimpleIdentityBandMembersRiversPopsGreat ThingsGangBangsKeep MovingPop SongGang Members Author:Torquil Campbell
“Rock bands are a lot like football teams: If a guy is on drugs and messes up, get someone else who's proud to wear the uniform and be part of the team.” IfsGuyTeamRocksFootballProudDrugBandMessUniformsFootball TeamRock Bands Author:Gene Simmons
“If one is intelligent and applies himself well, what can he not accomplish? Even small bands of people, I have heard, have defeated whole armies.” PeopleIfsWellsWholeHeardBandArmyIntelligentAccomplishDefeated Author:Sakya Pandita
“The regular rhythm and upbeat tunes of military music or marching bands positively affect your mood even if you don't actually 'enjoy' listening to it.” IfsEnjoyMilitaryListeningBandMoodRhythmTunesPositivelyUpbeatMarching Band Author:Liz Miller
“Certain punk bands were influential because I thought, If they can do that then I can .Hanging around those bands was how I started my first band - In Praise of Lemmings.” IfsFirstsI CanCertainCan DoBandPraisePunkInfluentialHanging AroundLemmings Author:Boy George
“The band set up in January and just started rehearsing. If there was a song, we'd just rehearse it as a band, and it would get arranged as a band, and it got changed around a lot.” IfsSongChangedBandJanuaryRehearsing Author:James Iha
“Toasted Heretic should have been cherished and helped, rather than ignored or sneered at, or put down as "quirky band with an arrogant singer". So I certainly didn't help the band, but the virtues I had meant that we recorded albums when everyone else just listened to them. But, yes, if you could suffer from high self-esteem, then I certainly suffered.” IfsShouldHas BeensSelfHelpingSufferingVirtueSelf EsteemBandShould HaveAlbumsSingersEsteemArrogantIgnoredShould Have BeenJust ListenQuirkyHereticHigh Self Esteem Author:Julian Gough
“He came from a rock band and even though he was not a lead singer, I knew he was musical just from that. I also knew that he was intelligent enough from talking to him, that he would not play this part unless he could handle it vocally. I knew he was not about to get up there and have to have his voice dubbed or come off croaking. So Johnny Depp casted Johnny Depp. I trusted him entirely. I knew that he was no fool and he would only do it if he felt he could handle it. I told him to listen to the score carefully and if you can handle it, fine by me, and I was right.” IfsEnoughPlayFeltVoiceTalkingRocksFineFoolBandIntelligentMusicalSingersHandleGet UpScoreTrustedRock BandsTalking To Him Author:Stephen Sondheim
“I really like LIMP BIZKIT. I mean, I've said it for years - I don't know if anyone actually hears it - but I think LIMP BIZKIT are an awesome band. In terms of the rap-rock bands, or ANY bands out there, I think they really are truly among the best.” IfsThinkingKnowsYearsMeanSaidTermRocksBandRapRock BandsLimp Bizkit Author:Lars Ulrich
“Talking about music and talking about drums brings me back to my beginning and the simplicity, and the excitement about trying to play something and see if it works for your band.” IfsTryingPlayTalkingBandSimplicityExcitement Author:Patty Schemel
“If you heard my records and no one told you, I don't think you'd know whether it's a band or one guy.” IfsThinkingKnowsGuyRecordsHeardBand Author:Lenny Kravitz
“There will be a Led Zeppelin as long as there's a Jimmy Page, John Bonham, John Paul Jones and Robert Plant. This isn't a nostalgia band playing the hits forever. If anything ever happened and somebody left - which I really can't see happening - I don't think we'd bother to carry on. The magic for me is as it is now.” IfsThinkingLongLeftForeverHappenedMagicBandPagesHappeningsPlantNostalgiaBotherJimmyZeppelinsJohn Paul Author:Jimmy Page
“If girls are ever going to start to be in bands as the norm rather than as the exception. They need to see people up there that have just started playing. That's something that had gotten lost. I think that's why there are so many great girl punk rock bands now. It's like you have to make up your own rules because the old rules don't apply. You just have to start with what you have.” PeopleIfsThinkingNeedsGirlLostRocksLike YouBandExceptionPunkNormPunk RockRock Bands Author:Tobi Vail
“If I couldn't play drums it would have destroyed me. If you're thrown in the deep end you swim, and that's basically what I did. I had to do it and with the rest of the band behind me and the encouragement I got from people from all over the world, I knew that I was going to play” PeopleIfsWorldEndsPlayBehindsBandEncouragementDestroyedThrownSwim Author:Rick Allen
“I think I've done a lot in this business, whether through screwball methods or not I don't know, that has helped other bands. I made a kind of road for them, you might say. If I raised my price, they found out about it and raised theirs. But somebody had to start it, to make the first move. You have to have the courage and confidence in your own ability. You have to know what the hell and who the hell you are in this business. Music may change, but I don't think that ever will.” IfsThinkingKnowsFirstsKindMayMadeDoneMightMovingFoundAbilityHellBandMethodRaised Author:Benny Goodman
“I can do whatever I want, I can have my band, I can use different people, I can use studio players, it's complete, total freedom for me. If I want to make a video, now that I own my own record company, if the video has an American flame being engulfed by a huge puddle of oil, I can do that, I can say that if I want to.” PeopleIfsWantI CanDifferentUseCan DoMy OwnCompanyRecordsPlayerHugeBandStudiosOilVideoFlamesDifferent PeoplesRecord CompaniesPuddles Author:Richard Patrick
“You can get tested now for early onset Alzheimer's. Hold on a second, could someone hire a marching band, cause I'm so happy I feel like having a parade. You mean I can find out early if I'm going to die of a super horrible disease that there's no cure for? Well, whoopee!” IfsFeelsWellsMeanI CanDiesCausesBandDiseaseHorribleCuresTestedParadesAlzheimerAlzheimer'sMarching Band Author:Arj Barker
“Women do it all the time to look younger and it would make perfect sense if one of them ever came out looking younger - but they don't. They just look the same; they all get plastic surgery face. No matter who they look like going in, they all come out looking like the girl from the band on 'The Muppet Show.” IfsLooksMatterShowsFacesGirlPerfectBandPlasticSurgeryPlastic SurgeryMuppetMuppet Show Author:Dana Gould
“I enjoy playing with a big band occasionally, but it's too restricting; you really don't have a chance to stretch out and do what you want to do. Getting that thing of relating to a large band is great experience; I relate much better, though, if it's a small band.” IfsWantBigsEnjoyChanceBandWhat You WantRelateGreat Experiences Author:Art Pepper
“Its cool when I meet young guys from other bands who say how much an impact Aerosmith has had on them and how much they like me.I'll give 'em that 'C'mon you don't mean that' routine, but in my heart I know where they're coming from. If I had grown up in the '70's and was into rock n' roll, I know the kind of impact Aerosmith would have had on me. I know the kind of impact that Elvis and Jagger had on me, and while I'm not comparing myself to those guys, I can relate.” IfsKnowsGivingHeartKindMeanI CanYoungGuyRocksMy HeartBandImpactLike MeRelateCompareEmsRoutineRock N RollJaggerYoung GuysAerosmith Author:Steven Tyler
“My dad was a jazz fan and he used to have lots of old 78s, so I grew up with big jazz bands and the likes of Duke Ellington and Count Basie - although I really liked show tunes from those big musicals as well. I've always kept my ears open, as it were, when it comes to music. It doesn't matter to me what type of music it is. If I like it, I'll listen to it.” IfsWellsMatterShowsBigsUsedFansGrewTypeDadBandGrew UpEarsJazzMy DadLikesTunesDukesJazz BandShow Tunes Author:Ric Sanders
“At least here in Stockholm if you go out to any of our 4 metal clubs and talk to ten guys you can be sure nine of them play in a band! The bad thing is there is no underground movement here anymore. Going to a show with local band's ten years ago would mean at least 300 people, now you can be lucky if 50 shows up!” PeopleIfsYearsMeanPlayShowsGuyMovementLuckyBandTenYears AgoClubsNineLocalsBad ThingsMetalsStockholm Author:Johan Hegg
“In Europe and Britain they seem to be much more accepting and embracing of older bands, whereas in America if you've been out for three years, you're old, and I think that attitude stinks.” IfsThinkingYearsSeemsAmericaThreeAttitudeAcceptingBandEuropeBritainThree YearsStink Author:John Bush
“If the song was upbeat, we'd get out a funky Harry Connick, Jr. album, some Louis Prima big band, or a Bob Wills swing record for inspiration and swing for the fence, hoping to get that 'soundtrack to your life' vibe. And if it was a slow song, we'd go the other way and really make it worshipful.” IfsWayBigsInspirationSongRecordsBandAlbumsBobSwingsFenceSoundtracksFunkyUpbeat Author:Bart Millard
“Maybe if they start playing new rock bands videos, then maybe but there is no point in a guy like me spending 250 grand for a video that no one is ever going to see.” IfsGuyRocksBandSpendingVideoLike MeNo PointRock Bands Author:Sebastian Bach
“I like The Smiths as well. They took a cue from The Buzzcocks. They have jangly guitars instead of distorted guitars. All the Manchester bands have a character about them. The Stone Roses and The Smiths and all that. Even if you don't like them, they have a certain original sound.” IfsWellsCharacterCertainSoundBandStonesOriginalsRoseGuitarManchester Author:Steve Diggle
“That's why it's called Sebastian Bach. I mean, it's a permanent band, pretty much, but if I jam with other people, it just makes a better album, I think.” PeopleIfsThinkingMeanBandAlbumsPermanentJam Author:Sebastian Bach
“I always hate people that complain about showbiz after they've had a good run. To me there are so many great bands that never get their due, that are struggling away. And I'm like, if you hit the lottery, man, you can't expect it to come around every time.” PeopleIfsMenRunningHateStruggleBandDuesComplainingLotteryHate PeopleShowbiz Author:Miles Zuniga
“It's sad. There's a lot about this industry that a lot of people don't know about and don't find out about. There are a lot of tough things and trials and stuff that you're faced with. Sometimes, God has other plans for people. Sometimes bands can't stick through it. It depends on the situation. Keep praying for the bands that you like, seriously, because a lot of things will try to get in the way of being together. We've been blessed with not deal with those yet, but if we ever did...?” PeopleIfsKnowsWayTryingSometimesTogetherStuffDealsSituationPlansDependsIndustryPrayingBandToughBlessedSticksTrialsBeing TogetherTough Things Author:Trevor McNevan
“I think ultimately what you really want is a few people within any label that are into the band enough to really work on it every day for a long time and to actually try a little bit. But obviously, the major labels have more money to spend, so if they feel like spending it, they have bigger resources there when you need them. It doesn't always necessarily translate into them doing a better job for a band, but I think especially if you're playing the game of commercial radio and making videos and stuff like that, that's sort of an expensive proposition.” PeopleIfsThinkingWantNeedsFeelsTryingLittlesLongEnoughJobsGamesStuffBitsBandMajorsLittle BitLong TimeResourcesBiggerRadioSpendingVideoLabelsExpensiveMore MoneyTranslatePropositionsBetter Jobs Author:Adam Schlesinger
“I actually knew Sully's sister, and I was in a band called Stripmind, and then I became roommates with Sully and being out of a band, he asked if I wanted to join in his. Tony was originally the second guitarist in the band; a guy by the name of Lee Richards was the first. The rest is pretty much history.” IfsFirstsWantedGuyNamesBandGuitaristRoommate Author:Robbie Merrill
“Hanoi Rocks was our baby and we were the core and we started the band. All those years that went to waste because of that accident, it's only right that we have some kind of advantage because it's our history. The name 'Hanoi Rocks' I think is one of the very best names, if not the best name of all rock n' roll bands.” IfsThinkingYearsKindNamesRocksBabyBandWasteAdvantageAccidentsCoreRock N RollHanoi Author:Michael Monroe
“I have a theory that musicians recognize each other and if they are destined to collaborate together they will. Mainly, they recognize each other according to the class they belong to. If they are punk-rocker kids from the neighborhood, they are going form a band. If they happen to be musicians that are going to play in pubs and restaurants, they are going to recognize each other, form a band and play together. If it's about musicians that are playing jazz and are going to jazz festivals, for e.g., then they are going to meet and work together.” IfsPlayHappensKidsTogetherFormClassTheoryBandMusicianJazzRestaurantsNeighborhoodWorking TogetherPunkDestinedFestivalsPubsRockersPlaying Jazz Author:Vlatko Stefanovski
“I studied trumpet for almost 15 years and was performing with a professional concert marching band in parades and rodeos. I was headed back east to study music, and if I hadn't been intrigued with the Native American flute, I suppose I'd now be jockeying for first chair of the brass section of some orchestra, or perhaps I'd be teaching music in a school system.” IfsYearsFirstsSchoolStudyTeachingBandEastPerformingNativeChairsConcertsNative AmericanSectionsOrchestraTrumpetsParadesIntriguedBrassSchool SystemFlutesRodeoMarching Band Author:R. Carlos Nakai
“The visual side of being a performer or in a band is, to me, as important as the music. I know not everyone shares that same opinion, but when I'm writing songs or working on lyrics or coming up with an idea, I think about videos as I'm in the studio. If I had all the money in the world, I would have the most amazing videos ever, you know? You're saying grandiose, and big; if the song warrants it, I try to push the visuals as far as I can.” IfsThinkingKnowsWorldWritingTryingI CanImportantIdeasBigsSongSidesOpinionShareBandStudiosVideoVisualsPerformersWriting SongsMost AmazingWarrantsGrandiose Author:Tamaryn