Who you are as a performer is one thing, but when you're making records, you're dealing with musicians' tastes, their goals, their wants, their needs, everyone's individual pride.
I think that there are a lot of things that come along with being a musician, but I don't want to whine about them. I don't want to complain about my job.
I hate how things must be classified. How this is applied to musicians implies that they somehow contrive their products and have studied the demographics of the audience.
I consider myself a serious musician. Doing a comedy show does not take away from that in any way.
And I think musicians can better run this state than politicians. And, hell, beauticians can better run the state than politicians.
In some ways Lester Young is the most complex rhythmically of any musician. He does some things which are just phenomenal.
Musicians of any era - whether it be The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Rage Against the Machine, or, of course, Madonna - will inspire fashion. And we, in turn, will inspire them.
It would have been more obvious to go into film, based on the generation before me, but the generation before them were all composers or classical musicians.
I only choose musicians who I think will emerge, can emerge, with their own character, while still going along with the tune in question.
We all know the record biz don't pay. All musicians have day jobs - no matter how big they are.
Being in The Fall isn't like being in another group. It isn't a holiday. A lot of musicians are really hard to deal with. They aren't as smart as me.
The Blues scene now is international. In the '50s it was purely something that you would hear in black clubs, played by black musicians, especially in America. But from the '60s onwards it changed.
It's really important to create something, like with my creations as a musician. Just let it flow. Focus on how to deliver message to audience. Don't get ego.
I'm not playing for other musicians. We're trying to reach the guy who works all day and wants to spend a buck at night. We'll keep him happy.
I'm a musician at heart, I know I'm not really a singer. I couldn't compete with real singers. But I sing because the public buys it.
A rock musician's career is short-lived. To extend it, you need to do other things to keep yourself fresh.
The one mentality I've always tried to have is that no matter what stage in your career that you are in as a musician or a performer or a songwriter or whatever, there's always more to learn.
My primary influences were the best jazz players from the 50's and 60's and later some of the pop people from the same time period along with the better of the well known blues musicians.
Western record companies haven't always dealt with African musicians in the best way. Giving them a lot of money and telling them they're going to be bigger than Phil Collins is the wrong way to do it!
Historically, musicians know what it is like to be outside the norm - walking the high wire without a safety net. Our experience is not so different from those who march to the beat of different drummers.
Many rock musicians are excellent cooks, I've found, and those that are prefer to eat their own cooking in the studio. I encourage this behavior as I also enjoy the benefits of fresh food.
