John Darnielle Quotes

Well, you know, I mean, I first did my live shows in the late 70's and in those days I had a boatload of equipment that always seemed to be going wrong.

The way I play, I go through a set in a year. So I put '58 Gibson Jumbo Bass frets on all my necks.

Well, you know it was so different from when you rehearsed. You're out there with your guitar and trying to get a sound, but it doesn't sound anything like what you expect!

Last tour my bass rig was breaking down every other night. That was a pain. We would get on stage and Trey would count off the song, and I'd play the first note and nothing would be there. Those guys would just roll their eyes.

I've never, ever in my life enjoyed playing live the way I am now.

The only time I'm miserable is when I can't keep an instrument in tune.

I'll always leave the same set of strings on my guitars when I'm recording. If I break one I'll just replace it instead of putting on a whole new set of strings.

At the Isle of Wight, the sound went out and kind of kept on going. And I wasn't... when I came off stage I was kind of unhappy about how we had played. But now, I listen back to those recordings and it's not bad.

Harpists spend 90 percent of their lives tuning their harps and 10 percent playing out of tune.

I have no experience performing that music live in front of an audience. So that remains to be seen. I'm very excited to see what that's going to be like.

That gets me upset- you're jamming along, checking out the crowd and having a good time, and then your equipment goes down. You can't just stop the show and say, 'Oh, Jeff's got a guitar problem.'

On one level, we're on Matador, but our amps still might explode on stage, or they'll be an echo in the mic. It's like climbing a ladder. I like to climb it really slowly. I could probably get really professional right away, but I like to take baby steps and find my own way.

I'm always excited to see the reaction of the crowd when I'm playing a new song.

To finally be able to actually play the piano with vocalists and actually do, like, a proper concert - that feels really good.

The first time I performed on stage, that was almost the first concert I went to, so that was pretty interesting and a bit weird at the same time.

I have an ear monitor to block outside noise when I'm performing. It makes it easier. But sometimes I like to take the ear monitor off and listen to the craziness going on.

I think there's an attitude these days that you can go straight from a studio to the stage, and it isn't really like that. But playing live was the most important thing for me at the start because whenever I recorded something, it didn't sound right; I didn't like how my voice sounded. It was just raw.

When you have a live performance, you're going to be pitchy here and there, unless you have perfect pitch.

Being a musician in Texas had its own set of risks.

It's tough going out as the opening act of a band especially when you're solo.

To be able to be onstage and to hear people in the audience go, 'That's my song!' It's amazing.

Every night on stage it gets more and more comfortable. I think it really shows in the performances and just being able to revel in it and do it and live the dream I've thought about for so long.

When I'm on stage, it's like a different world ... me connecting with the audience. It's a surreal experience.

Gigs are my favourite thing - even the not so good ones, because you always learn something.

Chromamatic' is actually about changing the strings on my guitar and tuning my guitar.