Jarvis Cocker Quotes

In the early days, myself and my friends were into punk because we had no money, just very basic instruments and skills. It was more about the ethos and the energy.

Sid Vicious began the age of participation in which everyone could be the artist. Sid proved that you don't have to play well to be the star. You can play badly, or not even at all. I endorsed that attitude. If you can't write songs, no problem - simply steal one and change it to your taste.

The whole punk scene is, of course, responsible for the Go-Go's ever getting created. Because before punk rock happened, you couldn't start a band if you didn't know how to play an instrument. But when punk happened it was like, 'Oh, it doesn't matter if you can play or not. Go ahead, make a band.' And that's exactly what the Go-Go's did.

There was never a time when I wasn't making guitars out of cardboard or dressing up like the Misfits.

Punk was perfect for lazy people, because anyone could do it--you didn't even need to know how to play your instrument, assuming you knew how to plug it in. There was really no difference between Sid Vicious and anyone in London who owned a bass.

Starting out really punk came from not knowing any better and listening to music like that, not knowing how to play music - well, still not knowing how to play music.

I was really into punk. I was 11 years old; I had a blue mohican.

I think people are enticed by indie rap and every time you have a group going against the grain, they're gonna be like, 'Wow, you did it yourself in 2012, that's impressive - how did you do it? What're you doing that's different? And how can I be a part of it?'

There are a lot of bands who claim to be punk and they only play the music, they have no clue what it's all about. It's a lifestyle. It's not about popularity and all that crap.

Punk rock wasn't a career choice. It was a hobby that we did for fun. We never thought we'd get as big as our idols in T.S.O.L. or certainly not the Ramones.

The last true punk band to get a major label contract was The Dickies.

I pretty much grew up when punk was big in the UK. The Sex Pistols were heroes for me. I used to run around like Johnny Rotten. I had a jacket like his.

I can't think of anything I hate more than a former punk - they are the most self-righteous people in the world.

I was in a little punk band and we put out a few punk records that weren't very political, at all.

The Minutemen were seen as more of an art thing than Black Flag, although I didn't see them that way. It confused people when we put out Saccharine Trust, too.

I always think the Sex Pistols and the Ramones as very, very important because they stripped things down.

Punk rock has become another viable art form. It always was. But now it's like everyone's doing it.

The first Decline I did was out of sheer love and appreciation for the music. In 1977, it was more about bands, because punk was a new form of music. It was groundbreaking and political.

I think punk rock, especially for me, was a big middle finger to this whole talent thing.

I was a punk before it got its name. I had that hairstyle and purple lipstick.

When punk came along, it made perfect sense to me. I found it melodic. The Clash, Buzzcocks.

The intention behind 'Prone!' was to make a punk song with no instruments.

I can't sing that well, but when punk-rock came along, it changed all that.

I got into punk at 17 after discovering an all-girl band from Long Island on the Internet called The Devotchkas - four crazy-looking girls with fast, driving basslines and high-pitched gang vocals who shared the same dress sense as the punks I used to eye up curiously in Camden.

I think, fundamentally, the core of everything I do is punk rock.