“I started writing songs in high school and always wanted to have a band, and eventually my creative endeavors developed into Theocracy. So in some ways, you could say the vision has been there since I started writing songs.” WayWritingHas BeensWantedSchoolSongVisionCreativeBandHigh SchoolEndeavorWriting SongsTheocracy Author:Matt Smith
“The band projects just took natural priority. I didn't really have a solo career, just wanted to share the music in another way and to learn more about writing, recording, etcetera.” WayWritingWantedNaturalCareersShareBandProjectsPrioritiesSoloAnother WayEtcetera Author:Ken Hensley
“My personal relationship with music is an imperfect harmony because I never studied music, but here I am not just writing for bands but full orchestral sections and doing all this composition, and I never learned the right way of doing things so I have a lot of dissonant sounds and things that are brought to my attention, and generally I leave them that way because I like those imperfections.” WayWritingSoundAttentionBandMusic IsHarmonyImperfectionImperfectCompositionRight WaySectionsHere I AmPersonal Relationships Author:Serj Tankian
“My dad was all about music. He was a musician, leading a band when I was born. His band was active all through the 40s. He'd started it in the late 20s and 30s. According to the scrapbook, his band was doing quite well around the Boston area. During the Depression they were on radio. It was a jazz-oriented band. He was a trumpet player, and he wrote and arranged for the band. He taught me how to play the piano and read music, and taught me what he knew of standard tunes and so forth. It was a fantastic way to come up in music.” WayWellsPlayBornPlayerTaughtDadBandLateMusicianStandardsAreasJazzMy DadCome UpRadioActiveFantasticPianoTunesBostonTrumpets Author:Chick Corea
“I was never able to get through Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. I've never been able to make it through. And I love the Smashing Pumpkins, they're one of my favorite bands ever, but I've never been able to listen to the whole thing all the way through.” WayLoveWholeAbleSadnessBandInfiniteMy FavoritePumpkinSmashingFavorite BandsColliesSmashing Pumpkins Author:John Wozniak
“Even though were not the most punk rock band, the way weve done things is pretty punk rock. Just kinda say it with a big middle finger to the record labels and do it ourselves.” WayDoneBigsRecordsMiddleRocksBandFingersLabelsPunkPunk RockRock BandsRecord LabelsMiddle Finger Author:Brandon Thomas
“Everyone eventually winds up writing about themselves - the problem is finding the best way to go about it. To write about oneself literally, in the first person, presumes a more interesting personal life and philosophy than most rock lyricists possess. John Lennon was good for one great album based on musical direct address, 'Plastic Ono Band.” WayWritingFirstsPersonsPhilosophyProblemInterestingRocksWindBandFindingsDirectMusicalOneselfAlbumsBest WayAddressesPlasticPersonal LifeFirst PersonLennonLyricists Author:Jon Landau
“I've always played music and I've always been in bands and there have been periods in my life where the music has taken a much more front row seat than any acting. For a big period of time the acting work was really a way of raising money to fund my music. And then that all sort of changed around and that's fine.” WayHas BeensBigsActingTakenFrontsChangedFinePeriodsBandSeatsFundRaising Money Author:Jim Sturgess
“My tastes in all things lean towards the arty and boring. I like sports documentaries about Scrabble players, bands that play quiet, unassuming music, and TV shows that win awards. In that way, I am an elitist snob. And proud of it.” WayPlayShowsWinningSportsPlayerTvsProudTasteQuietBandAll ThingsBoringAwardsTv ShowsDocumentariesSnobElitistScrabbleUnassuming Author:Michael Ian Black
“As a woman, you listen to more female singers, like guys listen to more rock bands. So in that way, they influence you because you're trying to create an identity; you look to others to model.” WayTryingLooksGuyInfluenceRocksIdentityBandModelsFemaleSingersRock BandsFemale Singers Author:Joan Cusack
“When I was a kid, a lot of my parents' friends were in the music business. In the late '60s and early '70s - all the way through the '70s, actually - a lot of the bands that were around had kids at a very young age. So they were all working on that concept way early on. And I figured if they can do it, I could do it, too.” IfsWayKidsAgeYoungParentCan DoBandLateConceptsYoung AgeMusic Business Author:Slash
“When that band started out, I was 18 years old. So that was my reality all the way up until I quit the band. And even then, you know, Guns N' Roses has a nasty way of sticking around.” KnowsWayYearsRealityBandGunRoseQuittingNastyI QuitGuns N Roses Author:Slash
“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
“If you're in a band or think of yourself as a slightly creative person, you can get quite self-indulgent, so sometimes it's nice to have those people who bring you down to earth, but in a pleasant way.” PeopleIfsThinkingWayPersonsSelfSometimesEarthCreativeNiceBandPleasantThink Of YouDown To EarthCreative PersonSelf Indulgent Author:Jarvis Cocker
“I don't know that I make a big distinction between the big pieces and the little pieces, because I don't experience them in that way. I mean, by the same token, you're out touring with a band and then you're writing string quartets, and in a funny way, isn't it all the same, in a way? It's all just music.” KnowsWayWritingMeanLittlesBigsPiecesBandDistinctionStringsTouringTokensQuartetsString Quartets Author:Philip Glass
“Count Basie isn't just a man, or even just a band. He's a way of life.” MenWayBand Author:Lena Horne
“I went out and started on my way up in television. I wrote music, I wrote books, I played an instrument half-ass. I would always have liked to play in a band. I would always have liked to be a substantial writer, to write country music for big singers. I had all sorts of proclivities, but I never had any big success.” WayWritingBookCountryPlayBigsHalfTelevisionBandInstrumentsSingersAssMy Way Author:Chuck Barris
“How could I have not known about Ume? An Austin trio fronted by a whirling dervish of singer guitarist who in the standard PR band head shot looks like she wouldn't hurt a fly; yet give her a guitar, a Marshall stack and a mic and stand back, way back. She shreds. File under - Do Not Overlook and Go Tell Your Friends” WayGivingLooksHurtKnownBandStandardsShotsGuitarSingersFilesGuitaristAustinMicsTriosWhirling Dervish Author:Dave Allen
“I'm in a band, and we play music. And that's sort of my way of still being a rock star.” WayStillsPlayStarsRocksBandMy WayRock Star Author:Sunny Mabrey
“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
“Duke Ellington's career traces the entire history of jazz. The repertoire associated with him contains the most important elements in the music and provides concrete examples of some of the best ways to present the music in the widest variety of settings-radio, TV, recordings, movies, concert halls, festivals, solo, small ensemble, big band, symphony orchestra, opera, Broadway shows.... You name it, he did it!” WayImportantShowsBigsNamesCareersExampleTvsBandElementsJazzRadioSettingBest WaySettingsVarietyHallsConcertsOperaConcreteSoloBroadwayOrchestraFestivalsSymphonyDukesEnsembleBroadway ShowsSymphony Orchestras Author:Billy Taylor
“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
“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
“I played soccer, and I played in a band, and sometimes I was able to do a movie. And my school would cooperate. It was a very easy way to roll into what later became my profession. It's more innocent. When you're a child actor in the U.S., it's a different thing I think.” ThinkingWayChildrenDifferentSometimesAbleSchoolActorsEasyBandProfessionInnocentSoccerDifferent ThingsEasy WayChild Actors Author:Michiel Huisman
“There's not one way to direct a film, there are so many different ways to do it. Everything affects the way it turns out in the end. Even the smallest things. You don't want to really acknowledge that, because you want to believe that you are the only creative asset as a director. You want to believe you're the only one. But I really feel that everyone teams up and everybody really affects everything. Actually, it's the closest I will get to playing in a band.” WayWantFeelsBelieveDifferentEndsFilmTurnsCreativeTeamBandDirectorsDirectOne WayAcknowledgeDifferent WaysAssetsClosestSmallest Author:Lukas Moodysson
“As rich as you think some of us are, for every $18.99 CD you buy, the artist usually sees a toonie or so. Pay your producer out of that. Then your manager. Then split it five ways among your band mates. Now don't act surprised when you see the drummer of a platinum-selling Canadian rock band behind the drive- thru window at Tim Hortons” ThinkingWayArtistPayBehindsRichFiveRocksBandWindowSellingProducersManagersMatesSplitsDrummerCdsRock BandsPlatinumDrive Thru Author:Steven Page
“I did exactly what I wanted to do. It was always my intention to put a band together and be a band and not be about the solo pop guy. That was never me. All of the musicians that made me do what I wanted to do were bands. I didn't see it any other way.” WayMadeWantedTogetherGuyBandMusicianIntentionPopsSolo Author:Chris Daughtry
“As I kid, I was always jealous of the music that my favorite bands had written - but not really of how they played. So I'd daydream about having written songs, and this way above being able to perform them.” WayKidsAbleSongWrittenBandMy FavoriteJealousDaydreamingFavorite Bands Author:Jonny Greenwood
“The band never actually split up - we just stopped speaking to each other and went our own separate ways.” WayBandSplitsSeparate Ways Author:Boy George
“From the small clubs of the Harlem Renaissance where he began playing saxophone to world tours for the biggest of the big bands, Benny Carter redefined American jazz. From the start, his fellow musicians said the way he played the sax was amazing. They say that about me, too. (Laughter.) But I don't think they mean it in quite the same way.” ThinkingWorldWayMeanSaidBigsBandMusicianLaughterFellowsJazzClubsRenaissanceCarterSaxophoneHarlemHarlem Renaissance Author:William J. Clinton
“Okay, I get kicked off the drums when I try and...the notes just keep coming at you and I'm like "Ahhhhh!" I can't do it. I have literally gotten booed off the stage way too many times. It's terrorizing. The rest of my band mates just are...they tell me to get off. I'm like, "I can play bass. Dunk, dunk, dunk, dunk."” WayTryingI CanPlayStageBandOkayNotesMatesBass Author:Alison Pill
“I got out of that immediately was that now, all of a sudden, rock music had become a spectator sport, that corporate labels and their bands were the new establishment, and punk was there to fight them the way the activist hippies must have fought what the establishment must have been ten years before. And it was interesting to see the reactions in different parts of the country.” WayYearsHas BeensDifferentCountryFightingSportsInterestingRocksBandTenReactionsLabelsCorporateActivistEstablishmentPunkSpectatorsHippieRock Music Author:Jello Biafra
“Looking back, I didn't realize until years later what a huge influence Red Skelton was in my stage demeanor with the band. I mean, I always liked things that were funny, and later I realized that having a sly sense of humor was a way to get attention and even respect in school.” WayYearsMeanSchoolRealizingAttentionInfluenceStageHugeBandRedI RealizedSense Of HumorLooking BackSlyDemeanor Author:Jello Biafra
“Why do you have to retire at 65? Why can't you start at 70? You know, like wine. Why can't music be that way? My new band, we're playing stuff that's never been done before.” KnowsWayDoneAgeStuffBandMusic IsWineOld AgeRetiring Author:Herbie Mann
“The best way to break up with a girl is like I'm taking off a band-aid. Slowly and in the shower.” WayGirlBreakBandAidsBest WayShowersBand Aid Author:Anthony Jeselnik
“I'm not a jazz musician, because, I mean, firstly, I can't play anything. I'm not bad on the tamborine. I have a certain way with the triangle. But I'm not a jazz musician ... my band, they always joke, they always say that I'm a disposable, pop, jazz superstar.” WayMeanI CanPlayCertainBandMusicianJokesJazzPopsJazz MusicSuperstarJazz MusicianDisposableTriangles Author:Michael Buble
“My reading was good enough to play big-band charts, but I ran into trouble with Claude (Thornhill)'s theme song "Snowfall," which had a repeating bass line in D-flat that was very difficult for me to finger using my self-taught technique. I spent one morning figuring out an alternate fingering, and that started me on the way to learning a better use of the fingerboard.” WaySelfEnoughPlayUseBigsSongReadingDifficultLinesMorningTroubleTaughtBandFingersTechniqueRanThemeFlatsGood EnoughBassSelf TaughtSnowfallFingerboard Author:Bill Crow
“The underground scene is still a cool way to meet a lot of cool people, see a lot of interesting bands and get a lot of food for thought, but people have to remain curious and get their brain activity food from other places besides punk.” PeopleWayStillsInterestingBrainSceneActivityBandCuriousPunkCool People Author:Jello Biafra
“One of the great things about having good players in your band is that you just ask them questions. You can pick up some good information that way.” WayAsksPlayerInformationBandPicksGreat ThingsGood Information Author:Bill Bruford
“I didn't write any music at all, and then, I remember Jon Anderson being very insistent saying that there were two kinds of musicians: the ones who wrote music and the ones who didn't. And clearly the ones who wrote music were more superior human beings in his mind. So he kind of nudged me and sort of prodded me into it. I picked it up slowly. Then I learned more about chords and harmony and I just kept adding to that. One of the great things about having good players in your band is that you just ask them questions. You can pick up some good information that way.” WayWritingMindHumansKindTwoRememberAsksHuman BeingsPlayerInformationBandMusicianPicksHarmonySuperiorsGreat ThingsChordsGood Information Author:Bill Bruford
“First we start with the lyrics. Most of the lyrics are done by Stefan Kaufmann and me. When we have enough lyrics and enough stories we have the lines to make titles. Then we collect all the ideas of everybody in the band and see which ideas fit together the best with the lyrics to get the right atmosphere. That's the way we compose.” WayFirstsIdeasDoneEnoughStoriesTogetherLinesFitBandTitlesAtmosphere Author:Udo Dirkschneider
“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
“I don't really think of these as projects. I think of them as bands. I have tried to not just convene a group of musicians and make one record or make one gig and just drop it. Each of them develop over time. I have been really fortunate to keep a band like the Sextet together over three very different albums. Each time, the goal got more deep for me in terms of how I wanted to write for those people. So it is really about trying to develop ideas and trying to have a consistent focus on a way to come up with new ideas in music that I want to do.” PeopleThinkingWayWantWritingTryingHas BeensIdeasDifferentWantedTogetherThreeGoalTermRecordsFocusGroupsBandProjectsMusicianCome UpAlbumsFortunateConsistentNew IdeasGigs Author:Dave Douglas
“The name came from, erm... us all just agreeing on a name that we liked. There was talk of Swans at first, but there was already a band called Swans, way back in the eighties. An American band. So we thought, well, we can't have them, and I think Andy said, "well what about Doves?" We ruminated it around the three of us and went, well, it's not so bad, it's all right.” ThinkingWayFirstsWellsSaidThreeNamesBandEightyDoveSwans Author:Jimi Goodwin
“When we started out we got a lot of positive press around the single 'Step Into My World', and a lot of Radio play. The single did really well, so we were in the spotlight straight away. I obviously had my history with Ride, but I didn't want to talk about that, so all the interviews centred around how I'd had these auditions and found the band members that way. I think people felt like that was not 'for real' enough or something.” PeopleThinkingWorldWayWantWellsRealEnoughPlayFoundFeltStepsBandMembersPressesRadioInterviewsAuditionsSpotlightSingle StepRadio PlaysBand Members Author:Andy Bell
“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'm trying to be expressive on my instrument and conduct as I'm improvising. So I'm conducting with the melodies and the rhythms that I play. And so it's a very organic way. It's a lot like Charles Mingus played, cuing people in from what you play and how you play it rather than standing in front of a band, conducting and pointing.” PeopleWayTryingPlayFrontsBandStandingInstrumentsRhythmMelodyPointingExpressiveConductingImprovising Author:Joe Lovano
“It's hard to say. Whenever you play with a group of people for a long time it influences the way that you play with others. They were all very defining in their own way and all affected the band in one way or another. I don't think they are so obvious in the music. The fact is that The Lawrence Arms is the culmination of a long search of trying to find people who play well as a unit.” PeopleThinkingWayTryingWellsLongHardPlayFactsGroupsInfluenceArmsBandLong TimeObviousOne WayAffectedUnitsDefiningCulmination Author:Chris McCaughan
“That's the way I came up, writing and recording at home. I developed by playing everything myself. I was a drummer first and that's my favorite instrument to play. Once I get the drums done, everything else comes real quick. Also, we track in my friends' garage, which is really small ... there's not really room to record live with a band.” WayWritingFirstsRealDonePlayHomeRoomsRecordsBandMy FriendsInstrumentsMy FavoriteTrackDrummerGarage Author:Pete Yorn
“When I started making films I just decided "I'm the filmmaking equivalent of a garage band and I'll just make my garage band movies." But even the same musicians from garage bands would go to my movies and you could tell what they liked from the way that they dressed and they would be the first ones to walk out.” WayFirstsWould BeFilmWalksBandMusicianDecidedFilmmakingGarage Author:Guy Maddin