“I didn't want to be precious about things. Of course, the idea is to make great music, but if you have great musicians up there, it gives me some leeway to play around a little bit.” IfsWantGivingLittlesIdeasPlayCoursesBitsLittle BitMusicianGive MeGreat MusicGreat Musician Author:Fiona Apple
“I work with musicians whose opinions I respect and if they don't like something they don't hold back. They'll say, 'That really sucks' and 'You've lost it' and 'You're no good anymore.' And I crawl away with my tail between my legs and I fear that kind of ridicule, but I want them to like the music I'm bringing to them.” IfsWantKindLostOpinionMusicianLegsTailsRidiculeLike Something Author:Billy Joel
“I always wanted to be someone in the entertainment industry. In my eighth grade slideshow, when everyone was like "show us what you want to be," everyone [said] doctor, lawyer, [but] mine literally said rapper. I wanted to be a musician, I wanted to be a superstar, I wanted to be on stage, I wanted to perform, I wanted to be in movies. But as you grow up, those dreams kind of fade away.” WantKindSaidShowsDreamWantedGrowsGrowing UpStageMinesIndustryMusicianDoctorsEntertainmentWhat You WantLawyerGradesRapperFadesSuperstarFade AwayEntertainment IndustryEighth Grade Author:Lilly Singh
“I didn't want to be a sideman. My own style was coming out and I was into my own writing. I wrote a whole album, I arranged it all with pencil and paper. I did eventually do a lot of work with my father, but that was different. I was living at home; I wasn't a starving musician. I wasn't spoiled, but I wasn't going to have some producer come in and tell me what to play.” WantWritingDifferentPlayWholeHomeFatherMy OwnStylePaperMusicianAlbumsProducersComing OutPencilsStarvingSpoiledMy Own Style Author:Shuggie Otis
“I don't listen to a lot of music when I have my free time. But I'll go to a jazz club and have a drink and listen to a good jazz musician. Or sometimes in the morning, if I want to put myself in a good mood, I'll put on some Latin music.” IfsWantSometimesMorningDrinkMusicianJazzClubsMoodLatinJazz MusicFree TimeJazz MusicianGood MoodLatin Music Author:Joshua Bell
“As a composer you want to tell musicians two completely contradictory things. You want to say, "Play exactly what I wrote, but bring your own thing to it." In a lot of ways they feel like opposites, but in a sense, my job is to cajole or encourage decisions that I approve of.” WayWantFeelsTwoPlayJobsDecisionMusicianOppositesComposerContradictory Author:Nico Muhly
“I think musicians are always supportive of each other because they want the groove to keep going on. They just basically want to play music.” ThinkingWantPlayMusicianKeep GoingSupportiveGroove Author:Linda Ronstadt
“As a journalist, I never critiqued anyone. I never review books. I've never felt qualified as a musician to say whether someone is a good musician or a bad musician. What happens with Black writers and Black artists is that if you're critiqued, for example, by a Black historian who wants to get his name on the cover of "The New York Times," and he says something, like, wacky, well, he'll get his name on the cover of "The New York Times" and he might get tenure, and your career suffers.” IfsWantWellsBookMightHappensArtistSufferingNamesFeltBlackCareersNew YorkExampleMusicianJournalistReviewsHistorianQualifiedNew York TimesTenureWacky Author:James McBride
“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
“I am not a pop musician; I don't want to play bubble-gummy pop stuff.” WantPlayStuffMusicianPopsBubblesPop MusicGummies Author:Neal Schon
“My advice for young people is that, if you want to be a musician, the thing to do is practice eight hours a day.” PeopleIfsWantYoungHoursPracticeAdviceMusicianEightThings To Do Author:T Bone Burnett
“When I write stuff that's provocative, I want people to think about that, too. I'm in between a pop musician and an artist in that way. I want people to be part of the music as they listen, but I also want them to think: What was that?” PeopleThinkingWayWantWritingArtistStuffMusicianPopsPop MusicProvocative Author:Jenny Hval
“I didn't want my records to sound like anybody else, and when I've got my guys in the studio, I have a language with those guys because we work together every day. A lot of times, you bring in outside guys, studio players, whatever, and they're great musicians. It's just that they don't necessarily play the way I want it to be played.” WayWantPlayTogetherGuyLanguageSoundRecordsPlayerMusicianStudiosWorking TogetherGreat MusicGreat Musician Author:Jason Aldean
“I'm a jazz musician by education and vocation, but I don't think jazz should [ dictate] what I want to do.” ThinkingWantShouldMusicianJazzVocationJazz MusicJazz Musician Author:Dave Douglas
“What Muddy Waters did for us is what we should do for others. It's the old thing, what you want written on your tombstone as a musician: 'He passed it on.'” WantShouldWaterWrittenMusicianWhat You WantTombstoneMuddyOld Things Author:Keith Richards
“There seems to be an inclination among rock musicians to be very carefree with money, but I negotiate the best flight and hotel deals on our tours to maximise the band's income - I don't want too see too much taken off the top line.” WantSeemsLinesDealsTakenToo MuchRocksBandMusicianIncomeFlightHotelInclinationRock MusicCarefreeRock Musicians Author:Ian Anderson
“I basically love classical music. I love a lot of musicians playing together and the whole culture of that whether it's Indian or it's Western. But in India, I think it's limited to filler music unfortunately. That's one thing I want to push in India where we have the infrastructure of an orchestra where you play Indian melodies with an orchestra and something different for a universal audience. It requires a lot of work from me.” ThinkingWantDifferentPlayWholeTogetherCultureAudienceOne ThingMusicianUniversalIndiaWesternIndianMelodyOrchestraInfrastructureClassical MusicFillersPlaying Together Author:A. R. Rahman
“I always say that you should just listen to it and see what you think it sounds like it is. I don't think it should be labeled. Most musicians feel like that. No one wants to put their music in a category. But, I don't think it's all over the place. I don't go from metal to jazz, or anything crazy.” ThinkingWantFeelsShouldSoundCrazyMusicianJazzCategoriesMetalsJust Listen Author:Tinsel Korey
“When I like a musician I want to see a picture or a video of them.” WantMusicianVideo Author:Erika M. Anderson
“He [Benny Carter] is all that every jazz musician the world over wants to be. He's performed 20,000 nights. How many shoes have been shined? How much mascara put on? Rouge? How many of those impossible bowties have been tied? How many love songs have been sung? How many dances have been danced? How many have passed to the sound of his music? It's been said that a man should not be forced to live up to his art. Benny Carter is one of the rare instances when we wonder whether the great art that a man has created can live up to him.” MenWorldWantShouldHas BeensArtSaidNightSongSoundWonderImpossibleMusicianArt IsJazzShoesInstanceTiedGreat ArtJazz MusicCarterJazz MusicianMascaraRouge Author:Wynton Marsalis
“What I try to do is produce an atmosphere where musicians want to invest in what they do and give to the recording. I hire those musicians who I know will play something creative and interesting.” KnowsWantGivingTryingPlayInterestingCreativeProduceMusicianAtmosphere Author:Herbie Mann
“Comedy is the drug, when they laugh it's like I'm a jazz musician and they hear it, and they get it. It's power to take the crowd wherever I want them to go. I love it when they laugh, especially when they relate through laughter. It's a beautiful thing. It also means I'm going to get paid, which is nice.” WantMeanBeautifulLaughingComedyNiceDrugMusicianLaughterPaidJazzCrowdsRelateBeautiful ThingsJazz MusicJazz Musician Author:Alonzo Bodden
“She [Joni Mitchell] wanted to have that (jazz) element in her music. Of course, when she heard Jaco's [Jaco Pastorius'] music and met him, that floored her -- really grabbed her. She decided that Wayne Shorter was really conducive to her music. She would speak metaphorically about things. "I want this to sound like a taxicab driver, or a taxi in New York," or "I want this to sound like a telephone ringing." She would speak to musicians like that, and we really tuned into what she would want our music to be.” WantWantedCoursesSpeakSoundHeardNew YorkMetsElementsMusicianDecidedJazzDriversTelephonesTaxiWayne Author:Don Alias
“Being a musician, you want to be able to do the hardest stuff there is. People would think it's classical, but in classical, it's all on the page and the difficulty is keeping up with the music.” PeopleThinkingWantAbleStuffMusicianPagesDifficultyHardest Author:Brian McKnight
“I started out as a folk singer, and kinda got sidetracked playin' honky tonks and such, but I was always a working musician. I didn't want to be Townes Van Zandt or Guy Clark, but I wanted to play in front of their audiences, you know what I mean?” KnowsWantMeanPlayWantedGuyAudienceFrontsMusicianFolksSingersVansTonks Author:Ray Wylie Hubbard
“I only say this because a lot of people seem to think that if you're a musician you want to be a celebrity. But most musicians in the world aren't celebrities, and pretty much everything about the concept of 'celebrity' is a complete load of bollocks anyhow.” PeopleIfsThinkingWorldWantSeemsMusicianConceptsLoad Author:Brooke Fraser
“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
“It would be inadmissible if I would vent my opinion publicly. Not only could I harm the artist concerned seriously because people have so much respect for me and believe in me because of my musical accomplishments. And I could also antagonize people against me, because everyone has his own taste. We all make music, people can choose from that what they like. Every musician likes his own music the best, man. I don't want to attack that. I don't mind criticism, I can handle it, but most people can't".” PeopleIfsMenWantMindBelieveI CanWould BeArtistOpinionTasteMusicianConcernedCriticismMusicalHarmLikesHandleAccomplishmentBelieve In Me Author:Fela Kuti
“You know I really don't like to think about the fact that I'm a girl in relation to the music industry. I was just a kid who wrote down thoughts to organize her brain and that turned into music, like any other writer or musician... so, I happen to be a girl. I don't consider that part of it really.. It may disappoint some feminists out there that I don't want to harp on women and men being equal.” ThinkingKnowsMenWantMayFactsHappensKidsGirlBrainIndustryEqualMusicianMen And WomenRelationFeministOrganizeDisappointMusic IndustryHarpsBeing Equal Author:Lacey Mosley
“I feel like when you're an artist and you first come out - people don't want you to be as creative as you could possibly be as a musician. More so they really want you to stick to something.” PeopleWantFeelsFirstsArtistCreativeMusicianSticks Author:Kid Ink
“I think you have to know exactly what you want. Whether you want to be a guitar player or a musician, you have to be really focused on it if you really want to do it.” IfsThinkingKnowsWantPlayerMusicianGuitarFocusedWhat You WantGuitar Player Author:Jonny Lang
“By the year 2000, I want to be the first Latin musician to play on the moon.” WantYearsFirstsPlayMoonMusicianLatin Author:Tito Puente
“I just want to continue developing as a musician. I love playing. I also want to be more involved in composing, doing my own thing, I hope to continue to be in different situations that I can nurture and that will nurture me.” WantI CanDifferentMy OwnSituationInvolvedMusicianDevelopingNurtureComposing Author:Vinnie Colaiuta
“The human genome will not help us to understand the spiritual side of humankind, or to know who God is or what love is. The well-heeled couple who decide they want to use genetics to have a child that is a gifted musician may end up with a sullen adolescent who smokes marijuana and doesn't talk to them.” KnowsWantHumansWellsMayChildrenEndsHelpingUseSpiritualSidesLove IsCoupleMusicianSmokeMarijuanaHumankindGiftedGeneticsSullenGenomeWho God Is Author:Francis Collins
“If our hearts and minds are not properly transformed, we are like musicians playing untuned instruments, or engineers working with broken and ill-programmed computers. The attunement of the heart is essential to the outflow of grace...We must aim at building the structures of God's kingdom but recognized that we will only create these through the transformation of our experience. Concentration on reformation without revival leads to skins without wine; concentration on revival without reformation soon loses the wine for want of skins.” IfsWantMindHeartLosesGraceBuildingBrokenEssentialsComputerMusicianSkinsTransformationAimInstrumentsWineStructureIllKingdomsConcentrationTransformedEngineersHeart And MindRevivalReformation Author:Richard Lovelace
“The idea of actually taking sharp turns left and right has always intrigued me, but I've never really been bold enough to do that. As musicians go, I've allowed myself to be carried by other people's enthusiasm into places where I've learned a lot. There is no real tumult anymore. What I want to do, I do! I'm pretty fortunate.” PeopleWantIdeasRealEnoughTurnsLeftMusicianEnthusiasmFortunateI've LearnedIntriguedTumultLeft And Right Author:Robert Plant
“I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I want to try it again and again, and a lot of times my fellow musicians have to hold me back and say, "Nah, I think we got it."” ThinkingWantTryingBitsMusicianFellowsAgain And AgainPerfectionistHold Me Author:Mary Chapin Carpenter
“You can choose not to be a performing musician. You can choose to just be a recording artist. But then you run into the problem of trying to earn a living and balancing the time that you spend working on your creative efforts to just getting the bills paid. You can go off the grid and live in a cabin and make whatever art you want and also provide all the sustenance you need and not interact with anybody else.” WantNeedsTryingArtProblemRunningArtistEffortCreativeMusicianPaidBillsPerformingSustenanceCabinsGrids Author:Mirah
“Musicians want to be the loud voice for so many quiet hearts.” WantHeartVoiceQuietMusicianLoudIntrovertSinger SongwritersPianistLoud VoicesQuiet Heart Author:Billy Joel
“Singers, musicians, and songwriters don't want to use the word "acting" because we want it to be more real than that - we want it to come from us: naturally, truly, really.” WantRealUseActingMusicianSingersSongwriters Author:Ronee Blakley
“I want longevity; I love music, being a musician is the greatest gift in the world to me, and if I were to get signed to a label, my family and team around me are always gonna be there to make sure they want the very best for me. My fans are what it's all about.” IfsWorldWantTeamFansMusicianMusic IsMy FamilyLabelsLongevityGreatest GiftsMusic LoveI Love Music Author:Christina Grimmie
“I'd done all my research and seen that Booker and Gadson had worked with giant folks and little peanuts, too. That just showed me that they're musicians. They're not just interested in doing the big ones, they're interested in doing stuff that - pardon the expression - gives them a boner. I'm like that, too. I don't want to just do easy stuff. I want to keep myself freaked out all the time. Hence the title of the record, I Like To Keep Myself in Pain.” WantGivingLittlesDoneBigsPainEasyStuffRecordsExpressionMusicianResearchFolksTitlesGiantsPardonPeanutsBoners Author:Kelly Hogan
“It was more about getting together with other musicians and playing live. I needed to suss out a full set [for the Last Summer tour], and I didn't want to play Fiery Furnaces material. So half of our set was new songs that we ended up recording for this album. And that made such a huge difference - going into the studio after playing a song for two years, knowing it inside-out and having sung it millions of times, and then recording it is a totally satisfying experience. You're suddenly in this controlled environment and you can make it sound exactly as you've been imagining it.” WantYearsMadeTwoPlayTogetherLastsSongSoundDifferencesHalfMillionsKnowingEnvironmentMaterialsHugeNeededSummerMusicianAlbumsStudiosTwo YearsControlledSatisfyingFieryFurnacesNew SongsLast Summer Author:Eleanor Friedberger
“I'm such a copycat."I want to try and do this like the Donovan song 'Changes'," or "I want to do this bit from Van Morrison." I don't know how else to illustrate something, because I'm not a super-great musician. In that way, I'm more like the producer.” KnowsWayWantTryingSongBitsKnow HowMusicianProducersVansGreat MusicianCopycats Author:Eleanor Friedberger
“It's been nice to have a band and people I'm close to that I can get that understanding from and help me realize what I want to do in my life as a musician.” PeopleWantI CanHelpingUnderstandingRealizingNiceBandMusicianHelp Me Author:Blake Judd
“My priorities now a a musician are so different now than they were as a kid. Everyone wants to be a rock star, and I wanted that too; I wanted to be on magazines and be running around the world and having all the fun.” WorldWantDifferentRunningKidsWantedFunStarsRocksMusicianPrioritiesMagazinesAround The WorldRock Star Author:Blake Judd
“I have a nice little idea from some people I met there who are now in their seventies, and I want to tell their story about the revolution through the eyes of musicians, in fact. The '59 Revolution. And what has happened to them since. It's very much a Cuban story. They haven't fared too well.” PeopleWantWellsLittlesIdeasFactsStoriesEyeNiceHappenedHavensRevolutionMetsMusicianSeventiesCubanThrough The Eyes Author:John Gimlette
“Musicians always want to sacrifice our creativity to get involved in environmental issues or political activism of some sort - to reduce it to something more populist in terms of sing-alongs or guitar songs with a message.” WantPoliticalSongTermCreativityIssuesSacrificeInvolvedMessagesMusicianEnvironmentalGuitarActivismGet InvolvedPopulistEnvironmental IssuesPolitical Activism Author:Eyvind Kang
“As convenient as that would be to make it easier to communicate with more prolific musicians, I don't want to think of music like a math equation.” ThinkingWantWould BeEasierMusicianCommunicateMathEquationsConvenient Author:Blake Judd