Quotes by David Byrne

About David Byrne:

David Byrne is a Scottish-born American musician who was a founding member, principal songwriter, and lead singer and guitarist of the American new wave band Talking Heads, active between 1975 and 1991.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

To some extent I happily don't know what I'm doing. I feel that it's an artist's responsibility to trust that.

David Byrne

I don't like begging money from producers.

David Byrne

Technology has allowed people to make records really cheap. You can make a record on a laptop.

David Byrne

You create a community with music, not just at concerts but by talking about it with your friends.

David Byrne

I found music to be the therapy of choice. I guess it is for a lot of people.

David Byrne

I encourage people not to be passive consumers of music and of culture in general. And feeling like, yeah, you can enjoy the products of professionals, but that doesn't mean you don't have to completely give up the reins and give up every connection ...

David Byrne

We don't make music - it makes us.

David Byrne

With music, you often don't have to translate it. It just affects you, and you don't know why.

David Byrne

Before recording technology existed, you could not separate music from its social context.

David Byrne

I'm not suggesting people abandon musical instruments and start playing their cars and apartments, but I do think the reign of music as a commodity made only by professionals might be winding down.

David Byrne

Ninety percent of all music is always crap, and when too many people decide they're going to have guitar bands, then ninety percent of them are going to be crap. It's just a given law.

David Byrne

So there's no guarantee if you like the music you will empathize with the culture and the people who made it. It doesn't necessarily happen. I think it can, but it doesn't necessarily happen. Which is kind of a shame.

David Byrne

Some artists and indie musicians see Spotify fairly positively - as a way of getting noticed, of getting your music out there where folks can hear it risk-free.

David Byrne

We tend to mistake music for the physical object.

David Byrne

The making of music is profoundly affected by the market.

David Byrne

It didn't even occur to me that I'm the last person in the world who should play salsa or Brazilian music.

David Byrne

I've rarely seen video screens used well in a music concert.

David Byrne

Music has to be sort of ignorable sometimes.

David Byrne

There's something about music that encourages people to want to know more about the person that made it, and where it was recorded, what year it was done, what they were listening to, and all this kind of stuff. There's something that invites all thi...

David Byrne

Forces that you might think are utterly unrelated to creativity can have a big impact. Technology, obviously, but environment, too. Even financial structures can affect the actual content of a song. The making of music is profoundly affected by the m...

David Byrne

It's not always been a happy marriage. I guess I wanted a quick fix.

David Byrne

Author Bio

  • NameDavid Byrne
  • DescriptionScottish alternative rock musician and promoter of world music
  • BornMay 14, 1952
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionFilm Producer; Composer; Actor; Singer; Screenwriter; Musician; Writer; Bicycle Racer
  • AwardsAcademy Award For Best Original Score; Webby Lifetime Achievement Award