Cliff Martinez Quotes

I don't like to write any music to a script. Experience has taught me that's generally a waste of time.

Composing demands a degree of isolation.

Singer/songwriters spend two or three years making an album, and then it goes up for sale and everybody pirates it and you don't make any money. Whereas, writing a film score you still get presented with a paycheck.

I'm kind of an antisocial person. I realised when I was playing in bands that I wasn't that comfortable being on-stage, and I preferred to be behind-the-scenes. I like the seclusion of composing.

I live in Topanga Canyon, which is like a faux-rustic enclave in Los Angeles. I love the sounds of all the critters outside - the frogs, owls, crickets, and birds. Some of the birds around here are pretty accomplished musicians. You can learn a lot from them.

I don't want to be typecast as the 'ambient guy' or someone who only does electronic scores. I think most of the work that comes my way is because people feel they know me musically.

Pop music is a fashion, and fashions come and go. The public retires you as their tastes change.

For me, the work begins with a rough cut of the film. I can't do much with the script. I've tried to write music to a script prior to seeing the film, but I've found it turns out to be a waste of time.

If you want to survive in the film industry, it's not about fighting for your visions because that's a given. It's thinking about how much is your vision going to cost, and then, what are the consequences, because you may have $100 million, but the reality is that $100 million needs to make $500 million to be a success.

I think there is quite a continuity over my 25 years of doing music, and I'm always trying to break away from it.

I think the music business is becoming more difficult. It's really taken a big hit with piracy, so it's a lot more difficult. I mean, it was kind of an impractical career choice when I did it 25 years ago, but nowadays it's truly reckless.

I actually don't see that strong of a connection between my background as a rock 'n roller and my early films. In a way I think your musical identity in film work is determined by the jobs that come your way.

I work at home but average 15,000 to 18,000 miles per year on my Honda.

If I had kids, I don't think I would recommend they pursue a career in music.

The more I come to understand music, the more I feel like a numbskull because there is always more to learn.

I guess I'd like to have my cake and eat it, too. I want to be known for having a recognizable style. I believe having your own personal identity is what makes you competitive. On the other hand, I would like to be versatile and be challenged to go in new directions.

I'm kind of conservative. I like to build on what I've done in the past and try something new.

I like directors that give their composer a juicy role in their films. Some films have a small, minor role for music, some have a larger role.

I like challenges and I definitely would like to be more of a chameleon.

I was in the Chilli Peppers at the time and I asked myself, would I be able to wear a sock on my genitals at the age of forty and they proved me wrong because I guess they're still doing it.

The way that I make films is that I sit down and I think, "How much money could I get with less consequences?" And that's how I start. I'd rather have less money and total autonomy than more money and start having to answer to things, because then I'm not being true and the money men are not being true.

I got fed up with being in bands. I spent a couple of years touring the country in a smoked filled band, doing lots of drugs and being really unhealthy.

Composers are in some ways the last frontier of musician that gets a paycheck for their musical services.

I'm not in a position in my career where I turn things down. I'm very easy. So the projects often dictate the direction you will go in. I welcome things that challenge me.

There's nothing worse than a director that keeps changing their mind. Because, unlike the directors I work with, I'm not decisive at all.

When you've finished the film and everybody's already made back all their money, everybody just leaves you alone and I'm very happy. That's what it has to be like.

Censorship has kind of disappeared in a way because everything is accessible online.

I've always been very left of center and the radio never had much diversity and film did.

It's very important that you never depend on money to fulfill your creative vision. If you do that, you're doomed to fail.

I've never tried to work chronologically. I don't think I have the discipline to do that.

I know so few people who actually give music their undivided attention, so I've been trying to just park myself on the couch between the speakers and listen.