Chris Thile Quotes

I have pretty ecumenical tastes. I'm interested in a lot of different kinds of music, so I don't listen with a jaundiced ear to music because it's in a certain category, whether it's country or opera or hip-hop or bebop or whatever it is.

Music is music - it makes no difference what it is. I can like Slipknot and Public Enemy equally.

I'm aware of the subgenres and why they exist. But I don't feel like I have to limit myself. I don't feel like I just have to play deep house, just play tribal house, just play progressive house. I wouldn't feel right if I had to limit myself.

I feel most comfortable keeping versatile when it comes to music genres.

Music is a personal preference. Everyone's free to connect and like whatever they want.

I never excluded any genre on my first record.

I'm into hip-hop, rap, country, blues, gospel, old school, new school... whatever... pop. If it's really good, I like it. I don't have to be told what to listen to. If I like it and it's good, I'll listen to it.

Listen, man: I am not the industrial godfather, king, whatever. I don't relish that title. I don't like it. I think it's limiting. I do country, I do blues. I don't just go straight.

Music is music; you don't have to put a label on it.

I found the blues too limiting, and classical was too disciplined.

I hate labels; the problem is that if you say you're one thing, it's hard for people to imagine you as something else. Music is way more complicated than that.

I love a lot of music that's considered folk music, but I also love a lot of music that's considered punk or considered rap. I don't mind being called a folk singer. But it seems a bit limiting. I want to be able to write whatever kind of song I want.

We are just fans of music, we are not fans of a specific kind of music. We just happen to be a rock band. Until we explain ourselves, sometimes people don't understand why we limit ourselves to just being a rock band. It's because that is what we like doing.

For me, great music doesn't just have to fall into one category or one genre and I love appreciating all kinds of music.

I like jazz, rock n' roll, some hip hop - I can't think of any music I don't like.

For me, genres are a way for people to easily categorize music. But it doesn't have to define you. It doesn't have to limit you.

Some people say that if you do anything other than a straight-ahead groove, that it's not jazz. But that kind of labeling is wrong. Music is what it is; if it sounds good, it sounds good.

Of course, I'm open to all kinds of genres. In my head, there are no demarcations.

I'm suspicious of the idea of categories in music and this idea of things being in boxes. To me, that seems unnatural. I write the music that somebody with my biography would write, and the thing that's always driven me is an enthusiasm for the material. I sort of follow the notes to where they want to go.

I never called myself a jazz singer. I just call myself a vocalist because I love to sing all kinds of things.

Who's to say a blues man can't play rock and roll?

I think I have a different view of what pop is and what can be acceptable in that realm. I feel good about that. I want fans to see that not everything's so black and white with genres.

I don't think a song should be put in a category.

A lot of times, people ask us about being a country band, and we say, 'Well, we're not really a country band.' And we're not knocking country, because we like it, but we don't want to be limited.

Some people dig jazz, some people dig classical music, some people dig rock. Everyone is so concerned about who they like. They always say, 'This guy is the best,' 'No, this guy is the best.' But I think everyone is great. I really don't have barriers to any type of music. I could listen to everything from metal to classical music to anything else.