Popular quotes about Band! Wisdom and inspiration are here! | page 48
What does surprise me, though, is the amount of attention this band [Guns'n'Roses] has garnered 11 years after the original lineup broke up. That's an interesting phenomenon. It was even interesting back in the day. I mean, [we were] this glorified garage band. It was a great band, but it was not the kind of band you expected to become what it has.
SlashI feel like there's not as many bands anymore. It's more like there's a front-person and a band supporting them, solo-type spirits that have a look, a vibe, a message, a voice and a style. I was talking about it with a journalist in Europe; he was like, "You're a democracy; everyone in the band does stuff." There's not a lot of bands I can think of that still have it so every member of the band has an equal say. I was like, dude, you're right. I can't really think of any right now. There might be one or two leaders in them, but there are not a lot of bands like that anymore.
Ed DrosteThe Beatles weren't like any other band. Everybody in the band sang, which is why you knew everybody in the band.
Gene SimmonsCommunication between band-mates is imperative. Communication is the key to any healthy relationship. If I need to be checked, I expect to hear it put in plain words what my faults are, and give my band-mates the ultimate consideration by shutting up and listening, then acting on the advice given. Same goes for anyone else in any band.
Phil AnselmoThe most inspiring drummer for me is Stewart Copeland from The Police. The Police are the first band I can remember really liking, and Copeland is a guy who was playing in sort of a rock band, or a rock-pop band, but he didn't want to do the traditional kind of rock drumbeat. He was doing all these kind of reggae rhythms, and the reggae style is almost an exact opposite of the rock mold of drumming.
Panda BearI know what it takes to make a band, how they should interact, what makes a record sound like it's a band - everything having to do with a band, I happen to be into.
Steven Van ZandtWhatever our personal differences are, there are no bigger fans of this band than the people who are in this band.
Alex Van HalenI mean I like pop music, and I like heavy music and, stuff that I like... the band I've signed on to our label right now; they're called The Sounds. They're kind of like a new-wave pop band.
James IhaI remember the day we were hanging around the band's commune and Roger came in with the press kit for a rock band (Moby Grape) any of us had ever seen. It looked psychedelic, yet it was done by ad people. I believe the word "hype" was coined on that very day.
Cynthia HeimelI just want a band and keep them working, people that I like and who I think a lot of. Once my band is happy, then I am happy.
Pharoah SandersWhen my band MU landed on Maui in 1973 we were greeted by a wonderful group of peace loving brothers & sisters who we immediately formed a bond with. We had two instant roadies, Spider & Richard, who helped with every move of our musical equipment. We settled into our house on the edge of the rainforest that eventually became a portable studio. We started rehearsing and booked the Lahaina Civic Auditorium for a full moon concert starring MU and a local band The Space Patrol.
Merrell FankhauserWhen we started the band, I was really like, "We just want to make a lot of records" - not quite unlike Guided By Voices' schedule. I've always thought that our live thing is what we do best, and having a really robust, big catalog makes for the most interesting live band - especially with people, at this point, traveling to see us night after night. For us to have almost 100 songs to pull from is a really cool thing. The sets can be different. They can be invigorating on an intellectual level. I definitely hope to continue to release records at an accelerated pace.
Craig FinnI brought the music out to L.A., and the producer Tommy LaPuma heard it and he said - "Man, I love it. Let's do it. Let's record it." I said, "Okay, where's the band?" He said, "We don't have a band. We want it to sound exactly like your demo." I said, "Well, I played all the instruments on the demo." You do that when you're making demos. You got your guitar, you got your sax. He said, "Well, I want it to sound just like that, so get all your instruments out here." So I ended up playing all the instruments.
Marcus MillerMysticism is concerned primarily with moving our awareness field from the beginning of the band of perception, the human band, up to the enlightened bands of perception.
Frederick LenzMy grammar school graduating class in 1941 had a little party for 13 or 14 year-old kids. [Trumpeter] King Kolax's band played for the party and Gene Ammons was playing tenor saxophone with the band. And that's when I said, "That's it!" Just like that, tunnelvision ever since.
Johnny GriffinIn my last band, Soundgarden, I had a couple of different drummers sit in on some stuff and it was fun for me to kind of take a break and watch the band.
Matt CameronWhat we've noticed is that people latch onto our music, and are very, very supportive of it, even almost defensive about it. Quite fanatical, some fans, aren't they? Just like they are in England, once they get a hold of "their" band, they don't want their band to get too big anyways.
Jez WilliamsI spent most of my 20s playing music. I was in a band and we worked really hard and did not get very far. I was really close to being this guy who used to be in this band who is still playing and trying to get some recordings together, but I got really lucky. That's never lost in me, that I went through Saturday Night Live.
Fred ArmisenYou know, in the 1970's, when I was in high school, I belonged to a band called the Happy Funk Band. Until an unfortunate typo caused us to be expelled from school.
Colin MochrieYou either swing a band or don't swing a band and that's what's lacking today.. There aren't any guys who get back there and play with any kind of guts.
Buddy RichIn high school I was in a band called Goodfight, but it was more me running around on stage. It was very punk inspired. Then I started to get into indie-rock and older music and decided I wanted to write my own stuff. I quit the band. Around 16 or 17, I started recording myself at home on keyboard and piano.
Angel OlsenI grew up not really listening to guitar players. Especially when I was studying music, I was just interested in piano players and arrangers and composers; I came to playing in a band from the perspective of someone who never expected to play guitar in a band.
Daniel RossenAnd then we came here for three weeks of band rehearsal with [music consultant/member of the band "Sloan"] Chris Murphy. And I grew up in Toronto during Sloan's heyday, so like I was like "Oh my god!" And so that was pretty cool.
Alison PillI am lucky to have the greatest band and when you add a symphony orchestra to the mix it brings all of my songs to a whole new level. I wouldn't say I really change what I do but, having those talented musicians behind me, along with my band, really makes the songs so much bigger and more fun to sing.
Olivia Newton-JohnI really enjoy touring period! I had another band called Killing Machine, we went out on tour which was only fifteen shows & we went out in a really old motor home. That had to be the most fun. I didn't have to do radio at nine in the morning everyday. It was me & a bunch of friends. The singer was my tattoo artist. My girlfriend would fly in & we would sleep in a hammock above the bed the band were sleeping in [laughs]. I like that stuff that's really fun, I like the camping experience.
Tracii GunsWe still talk about [school band]. Almost 40 years later. It's like people are talking about, "Man we need to have a morning band reunion".
Jon GordonThe shows are so different from each other, depending on whether I play with my band, Nine Stories, other musicians, an orchestra, only one or two members of my band.
Lisa LoebMy idea for our band is to be influenced by something different for every album. So it's almost like making a new band with every record we make I think. That's kind of the path we're headed down now anyway.
Dylan BaldiAs long as you want to pay to see a band, what makes the band want to get better? Nothing! Really! The Stones are, God knows, horrible beyond horrible, but it doesn't stop the fans from paying money to see them decompose in front of your very eyes.
John Seagall"Anybody have money?" Frank checked his pockets. "Three denarii from Camp Jupiter. Five dollars Canadian." Hedge patted his gym shorts and pulled out what he found. "Three quarters, two dimes, a rubber band and - score! A piece of celery." He started munching on the celery, eyeing the change and the rubber band like they might be next.
Rick RiordanREGARDING THE MARCHING BAND: How much more interesting it would be to see a creeping band.
Demetri MartinI work with this wonderful five-piece band, The Tony Guerrero Quintet, along with Kate Flannery, who was Meredith the Drunk in The Office, and Tim Davis, who was the vocal arranger on Glee. The three of us sing, and the band is amazing. We've been working together for about two years. So, we decided to do a Christmas album in July.
Jane LynchPeople say, 'Why don't you do interviews? What do you think about this? What do you think about that?' My job in the band is to play drums, to get up on stage and hold the band together. That's what I do. At the end of the day that's all that's important. Everything else is irrelevant.
Larry Mullen, Jr.The bands of perception vary greatly. There is the human band of perception. There are lots of different bands of perception. Simply because we are in one band of perception, doesn't mean others are not there.
Frederick LenzI grew up with the Beatles and they are still to this day my top band played in my iTunes.
Greg LaswellBeing in Nirvana was amazing an experience that will never happen again for me. And I look on them as some of the best and worst times of my life. But we're in this band, the Foo Fighters, making music for the love of music. We all came from bands that had disbanded, and we were drawn to each other because we missed playing - we missed getting in the van, loading our equipment, and watching it break down in the middle of a show. And that feeling hasn't gone away. There's nothing I'd rather do than make music. It's the love of my life.
Dave GrohlThere is always that one band that comes along when you are 14 or 15 years old that manages to hit you in just the right way and changes your whole perception of things.
Alex TurnerIronically, when I was playing in my first band, I would deliberately not write down any lyrics. I have a really good memory and I would just keep them in my head.
Craig FinnThere 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.
Jimmy PageI've got quite a big gay following. I played a lesbian prostitute in the TV series 'Band Of Gold' but I think my following really grew when I played one in the film 'Imagine Me & You,' with Piper Perabo.
Lena HeadeyI think of rock 'n' roll as a combination of country blues and swing band music, not Chicago blues, and modern pop.
Bob DylanI think it's stripped down as far as electronics go, but we just wanted to write a record that we felt better represented how we sound live with more of a rock feel, which is the direction we've been heading. It's just an evolution of the band throughout the years. We worked on this record longer than any other record, so I don't know if "stripped down" is how I would put it; I think it is a little bit more raw sounding.
Jason C. MillerIf it's just a pastime, keep doing it because it's relaxing and to blow off some steam. But if you're not sure if you want to do it, or you're thinking you can be famous, you shouldn't do it because you want to be famous. You have to do it because you love it and you want to play for people. And if that's what you want to do, then do it, but you can't go into it with that mindset of "we'll be in a band and we'll be famous."
Joan JettOne day when I was like 9, I heard the Beatles on the radio, and I asked my dad who they were. He told me they were the best band in the world, and I became obsessed. He started giving me their albums in sequential order, and I listened to them - and only them - until I was probably in high school.
Lukas HaasNew Amsterdam Records, a new label run by composers, has begun documenting this hybrid music, with invigorating discs by the band itsnotyouitsme and the composers Corey Dargel and William Brittelle.
Allan KozinnMy earliest musical memory was getting to watch my dad play drums in a local band. He's a banker by trade, but a drummer at heart. I remember seeing the guitar player do the solo from "Werewolves of London" with his teeth, and that was the moment that had me hooked.
Charlie WorshamI think we have a little added appreciation for the Canadian fans, maybe because there's a lot of Canadians that want a Canadian band that seems to tour a lot more in the U.S. that are like, "Whatever. You guys don't care about us. You just turned your back." Our fans, the people that we hang with in Canada when we play, seem to be super-supportive still. We have a lot of love for that.
Trevor McNevan