Kurt Loder Quotes

I wrote the music column in my high school newspaper.

I was a sort of rock journalist - whatever that is - in London in the late '60s.

I think there are just a million interviews in anthologies with famous musicians that are about the music, and they're really boring to read.

You know I take music seriously, right? So I expect journalists to take being a journalist seriously.

Rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, in order to provide articles for people who can't read.

As a journalist, I have wanted very much to find a way to write about the music industry, and it's been frustrating to me that that's never worked out.

I've built my whole life around loving music. I'm a writer for 'Rolling Stone,' so I am constantly searching for new bands and soaking up new sounds.

The biggest problem in rock journalism is that often the writer's main motivation is to become friends with the band. They're not really journalists; they're people who want to be involved in rock and roll.

I always go for 'SPIN' magazine because I'm such a music buff.

If people stop being interested, it's because you haven't written a good enough album. Music will always be the most powerful thing. It doesn't matter what record labels or journalists say. It's the song.

A lot of music fans are still interested in insightful perspectives on music - maybe even more interested than ever, since everyone needs help making sense of the incredible variety of sounds that have sprung up in the wake of the Internet revolution. There's a lot of room for unique, qualified voices who can provide good reads.

My input for the first 16, 17 years of my life was AM radio, FM radio - pretty mainstream stuff. Rolling Stone was probably as edgy as it got.

I couldn't imagine what it's like to be a journalist talking about music. You're left with empty descriptions; you probably have to make up a sort of weird cocktail of band influences and references to other music to get your point across.

I'm always very careful to make the distinction between music criticism and music journalism. A lot of people don't. But criticism doesn't require reporting. You can write criticism at home in your underwear. On the other hand, journalism takes legwork - you have to get out there and see things and talk to people.

Music critics are part of the world, and I am part of the world.

I don't read a lot of rock magazines for the most part.

What people have to understand is 'Billboard' is a magazine. They're like elected officials - they work for us.

Here's what I think about music and journalism: The most important thing is to just press play.

Being a musician has actually surrounded and immersed me in pop culture and youth culture from a very young age. But even before I was singing in bands and creating any kind of art, I was always fascinated by pop culture.

I only read the very best music books. Donald Fagan's memoir 'Eminent Hipsters' is great. Bob Dylan's memoir 'Chronicles' and Patty Smith's 'Just Kids' are both incredible.

The whole 'grunge-girl' comparisons certainly are the easiest to pick out, and I appreciate that music journalists are rushed.

At the 'L.A. Times,' I always wanted to write about artists I thought were meaningful. So I interviewed Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Eminem, White Stripes. And I could understand how almost everybody I interviewed had a sense of artistry.

Who are critics? Do they know about music? Have they proved themselves in the field? I remember, when we came up with the music of 'Dil Chahta Hai,' some of the critics said that the songs sounded like jingles.

Our interest in 'Rolling Stone' is driven by its people, its cultural significance, and the globally recognized brand that has no peer in its areas of influence.

I was in the back of the book [in the The Reporter] doing music.