I'm first and foremost a guitar player. I've been playing since I was 12, which is over half of my life. I like the physicality of it; you can strangle it or make it sing. I wouldn't say I'm a very technical player, though. I'm more intuitive - it's always more about chasing an abstraction.
Annie E. ClarkI'd listen to things that felt really good in the moment and realize they were clouded by enthusiasm or caffeine. And things that I was struggling to get out ended up being really compelling. It's an emotional roller coaster; there's exhilaration and there's shame.
Annie E. ClarkWith the first kid, you micromanage it, making sure there's no hair out of place when it goes off to school. But by the third kid, it's more like, "Oh, you want to wear a splatter-painted, Hard Rock Cafรฉ T-shirt for seven days in a row and not brush your hair? Go for it. Be who you want to be."
Annie E. ClarkI wouldn't say I'm a very technical [guitar] player. I'm more intuitive - it's always more about chasing an abstraction.
Annie E. ClarkFor a brief moment, I considered deconstructing the song and going down a cerebral road, but then I realized it would kill what is most powerful about it.
Annie E. ClarkI got offstage and was just looking at my hands, and they were shaking. I was like, 'I wanna kill someone! What's happening?'
Annie E. ClarkAn mp3 is a compressed form of data. It's not the full spectrum. It's never going to sound as good as a record. I think one thing people forget is that every technological advance we fetishize had its place in time. CDs are usually an hour long because that's the amount a CD could hold - not because that's the optimal amount of time for any given musical expression. Side one and side two? That's a product of vinyl. But that's not necessarily dramatic form - you could argue that that was three acts.
Annie E. Clark