Thundercat Quotes

It's funny, growing up there was never anybody around me with any kind of artistic bent.

I played guitar from the age of four or five. Every year there would be a slightly larger triangular box under the Christmas tree, until finally I got one that was big enough to make a proper sound.

I started playing piano when I was 6. And I knew that wanted to be involved in that form of expression, whether it was through music, or acting, or dancing, or painting, or writing.

I always knew I couldn't sing, but I also knew I had a voice that isn't heard by many, and that I could learn how to stretch it and make songs sound good.

I could read music before I could read.

When I came to the United States, I appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show as a 13-year-old, and I played a Mendelssohn Concerto, and it sounded like a talented 13-year-old with a lot of promise. But it did not sound like a finished product.

You can be born into a musical family and have an ear for music but being technically gifted, be it playing an instrument or songwriting, takes years to get good at. So for me, I'm excited to start over, and yeah, I have a few talents I can build off of. But I see this as a long process; it's a marathon.

I know perfectly well that no musician can make his thoughts or his talents different to what Heaven has made them; but I also know that if Heaven had given him good ones, he must also be able to develop them properly.

The nice thing about growing up in that kind of environment is you were exposed to so much -- music, plays, art exhibits, rock concerts.

Musical ability is not an inborn talent but an ability which can be developed. Any child who is properly trained can develop musical ability just as all children develop the ability to speak their mother tongue. The potential of every child is unlimited.

My mother is a poet/novelist, and my father was a pianist and cook. Both artists who colored my personality and brain in ways I'm still discovering!

I think I'm better at songwriting now, and it does come easier. I have faith in my initial instincts.

From an early age, my intuition was that I would be a musician.

As a child I'd sit at dinner parties with artists, authors and musicians, some of the best people in their fields. I couldn't avoid the path I took having grown up in such an artistic environment.

The good lord gave me a very unusual voice, and gave me the opportunity to learn how to use it.

A lot of people start by learning other people's songs, but the idea of singing someone else's music didn't excite me. I just wanted to write my own. It was really bad to begin with. It's improved slightly since.

I'm very fortunate in that my parents are artists. My mom is a brilliant poet... She still is a great visual artist. My dad is a jazz drummer... I've been very fortunate in that I've had parents who supported and encouraged me and haven't really questioned what I'm doing or asked me to question it.

I just wanted to do something positive. I feel like music was the talent that I had, I just had to tap into it.

My family was always musically inclined.

You just need the ear. But the ear is something, I guess, that you can't buy. And I can't play the piano fluently, but I feel like my ear is my strong point.

I don't really admire musicianship per se - as is obvious from my own playing.

Comfort is the enemy of the artist.

I don't know why songwriters struggle. They have to, I guess. If you're a young songwriter, quit struggling. It makes you look bad.

I warm naturally to the drummer whose ideas and approach are strong, even if he doesn't quite have the ability to carry them out.