Duff McKagan Quotes

A good bassist determines the direction of any band.

An important part of being in a band is the rhythm section.

I've watched so-called 'New Order' playing in Auckland, and Tom Chapman is miming along to my bass on tape... He's got his fingers on the low, and you can hear my high bass in the background. So he's miming.

The lead singer is such a prominent thing, where drums are more of a supporting instrument.

I really wanted to be a musician, but it turned out I had no sense of time.

I've been writing and composing songs since I was 5 years old.

I used to play the piano in the band, and so there's some horrendous scenes of me playing the keyboards.

I don't know if they were all functioning, but I did play in a bunch of bands.

My son, Wolfgang, plays drums, guitars and bass.

Yes, I love to play drums and bass and guitar and piano. Those are the main instruments I play. That is it.

When I got my band in 1983, I knew what I had to do. If I'm going to have a big band, they're going to have to sound equally as good as what I'm used to hearing.

You can be a singer, and you can be a guitar player, but putting them together is another animal.

I mean, I can sit down with a guitar, and in fact, we do two, three songs with just guitar and percussion.

I don't need to hear Bill to go through a song. I need to hear Keith to go through a song. I know Bill will be playing what I'm playing anyway. I need to hear Keith because it's all there: the time, the chord changes, and all the licks you have to follow.

I didn't sing, but I did play the drums.

As a rock band, you're slightly one foot in the past, playing instruments like guitar, bass and drums.

I've been composing and performing for as long as I can remember.

I don't want to be a lead player. I don't want to shred and play fast licks. I just want to be the best rhythm section ever.

You can have the best riff in the world, but if the drums behind it just ain't vibing it, it's not gonna be the greatest riff, right? So you've gotta have someone there that can really bring that to life.

All the best bands have to have more than just one strong songwriter.

In 2014, I composed the music for 'Jai Ho' which premiered in Dubai and I was a 23-year-old kid back then.

For me, it's always easier playing with a drummer.

The melodies are always the most important part to me. I am pulled more to the groove than the chord progression. After you find the groove, you find the most simple chord progressions and then sit inside that groove.

We have a lot of people onstage. We have a live violin, live cello, live drums played on this kind of massive electronic kit with some acoustic elements built in.

Energy wise, playing the drums was a lot of fun; I just felt like it was a natural fit for me.