Britt Daniel Quotes

We wanted it more live and raw. We didn't want a studio sound.

R&B and all that stuff was always very spare and spontaneous. Nobody made those records under solid gold situations. It was just in and out, and you didn't labor over the thing. I like music like that.

I do one take; I never overdubbed twice. I know there's stuff that isn't perfect, but it doesn't matter: Nothing is perfect, and there is a magic there that is undeniable because of the fact that we don't care about those things.

I like the spontaneity; I like to just get people together and hit 'record' so hopefully it has got a liveliness about it.

I like things that don't sound particularly processed or mechanical or made by machines. I like music that contains human elements, with all their flaws. There's air in it, and you can hear a room of a bunch of guys playing. Those are the magic parts.

It's a dying art to play live anymore and just play raw. Who cares if you make a mistake? That's punk rock. Just go out and go for it and make some noise.

Music should be poor. Music should be with out air conditioning. That's just the way it is.

I don't like records that are the same from beginning to end, that are too styled and slick. Everything is so designed and airbrushed and Botoxed, it makes us think, 'Oh, everybody's perfect except me. Everything's smooth except me.' But nothing is smooth.

When you are just you, without thinking or trying to say something special, just saying what is on your mind and how you feel, then there is naturally self-respect.

I always think it's a mistake when you actually have to set books aside and actually sit down and research something. I always think they've got to come from within.

Jazz is so difficult. A lot of people think once they've learned these licks they can get up and play them for the rest of their life. But that's not being truthful to the music 'cause it's not developing. Cats you hear that don't make no mistakes? They ain't trying to do nothing. everything they hear is on the mark, but they've played it so many times... I've built a whole career out of making mistakes!

I love the process of cutting everything out with a scalpel yourself: I don't want to have my stencils drawn up in Illustrator, then laser-cut. I like the fact that it's slightly wrong; I think it gives it a beauty. The individual and handmade will always be worth more than what a computer can do, at least until computers can learn how to make mistakes.

I regret not dancing more, just cutting loose on the dance floor. I still admire those who don't care much about what others think of them.

We are a very colorful family. Everybody knows our mistakes. But I think that people can relate to all of our mistakes and all or good and bad points.

If I took perfect pictures all the time, the people standing in the room with me, or on the carpet, would think, 'What an actress! What a faker!' That thought embarrasses me so much that I look like s**t in half my photos, and I don't give a f***. What matters to me is that the people in the room leave and say, 'She was cool. She had a good time. She was honest.'

My ultimate goal is to try to be real. It just so happens that I'm usually more happy than sad when I'm writing. And in general I think that life is pretty great, and it's cool to be here, so that comes through in my music. I don't have a dismal outlook, but I don't aim to make positive music. It's just what I am.

I think whatever comes natural is probably the truth, and the truth is the strongest form of anything - whether serious or funny.

I think a lot of people try to edit themselves out and I think that's a big mistake, because the person being interviewed is responding to a person, and if you don't know who that person is then you don't really know what's going on with the person being interviewed.

The way I make music is just a reflection of how I think music should be made. Where you sit in a studio, and you make music, and you use technology to your advantage, not to hide all the blaring mistakes.

But I do nothing that I don't like, such as "inventing" up to the arty or "down" to the corny. I happen to relish a certain type of corn. What I think is the really dangerous approach is the "let's be artistic" attitude. I know that artistry just happens.

It is obvious when an actor has put work into prep and research and understanding their character, and they're making choices, because that's what happens when you take the time - or have the time - to really think about the material, but that only accounts for about 60% of what happens on the day. When you're in the moment, you throw it all away. Well, you don't throw it all away, but it's in you now, and everything is reactionary in that moment and you have to be honest and present and listening.

Yeah, we have a lot of cringey moments, but that's what makes it authentic. I think for it not to be cringey, me and Kate would have to go into the edit suite, but then it would look over produced. We see it at the same time as everyone else.

You just have to do the thing that you feel is true to your vision, and then the audience will make the decision. But as soon as you feel like you're creating a product to just cater to what you think they want, it never works. It always feels phony. And the audience can tell immediately.

It's an odd kind of feeling because it sort of reminds me of being five again. When you're a five-year-old, you don't pay any attention to what anyone thinks of you. You just sort of are in your skin.

We only do what feels right. If something feels forced or contrived, then we pull back. We remain the Foo Fighters.