STEPHEN MALKMUS

I guess the majority of people who want to ban certain musicians are the ones who are so proud of everything America stands for.

I never decided to start singing, to be a singer.

What producers did was mostly recording in the studio, so it never changed our sound just that much.

There's no point that an album should sound like a watered down version of another album.

We're probably a couple of freaks who've created their own little universe, are living in our own little world and that's the only place where we can survive.

I like that band Get Hustle. They're cool live. I haven't heard their records, though.

We always did our own mixing.

I'm more into describing a scenario and I move around in that scenario.

We're not on a desperate mission to write chart compatible stuff.

Lou Reed is something like a personal favorite of mine, but you could always put me into that drawer of singers who can't really sing, who speak their songs.

The lyrics are different from Nick Cave songs and lyrics. His songs are very narrative.

But, then again, I wouldn't call myself an indie-rock supporter even if there are some really good bands out there and there will always be some real good new bands.

I think the focus of the media changes. At the moment the more electronic stuff like trip-hop was the flavor of the month, just a little while ago. It all depends on the angle, from which point of view you see it.

If a voice is just too nice, without an edge, it kinda all flows by. You forget it. You don't listen to the lyrics.

If you want to be negative about the whole thing you can say all guitar bands after the Beatles were just a waste of time because the Beatles were the best. I think it's far better to give new records a try.

Almost every band has somebody who's the main songwriter and who has a vision, a very clear idea of how a song should be.

I'm not sure if you can blame everything on the American way of life, but the United States are big. So, if you have a lot of people there, the percentage of stupid people is bound to be higher.

I really do think everybody can sing.

A good voice isn't so important. It's more important to sound really unique.

I don't even think my voice is really good.

We were delighted to have Nigel as a producer. The only problem is that Nigel is so famous that he seems to dominate most interviews without being there.

Well, yeah, I sang to some songs on the radio or in the shower.

With Pavement, we had no managers and never had a lawyer. We got lucky with not signing any bad deals.

In this achievement-based lifestyle, most of us have certain boxes we're checking to make us useful humans. But a lot of things you do as a parent are kinda invisible. There's a lot you achieve - just getting dinner on the table - that are more than making a song.

John Waters is a genius.