Gavin Esler Quotes

I hope people describe my music as lyrically driven, cross genre. Kind of alternative, kind of indie, kind of rap, kind of everything.

My last two records that I made were both quite pointed in one direction and I think I do my best stuff when it's all over the map, when there's a couple traditional things, a couple pretty rocking things.

I'm trying to use people like Meredith Monk and Philip Glass and Terry Riley as the backing tracks for new pop songs. It's really hard trying to use the format and write a pop song on top of avant-garde music, so we'll see. It could be cool, or it could totally flop.

All along, I did what I was comfortable doing, which was to play the music I enjoyed and try to stretch the parameters a bit. Country and bluegrass and folk were my foundation.

The biggest misconception about us is that we're just a rock band. We think our music is a cross-section of many genres; a hybrid of what the six of us have grown up on.

'Supafunkrock' is a musical gumbo. We throw all those musical influences into the pot and put it out there.

Rock and ambient music might as well reside on opposite sides of the galaxy, so it's almost shocking when a band like Deerhunter melds the two so effectively.

I wanted to create a bridge between experimental music and pop.

When I first came out, country wouldn't touch me because I was way too rock, and rock wouldn't touch me because I was definitely country.

My sound is, at its core, a mix of things. Definitely an imperfect mix, but one that incorporates elements of the music I love - a bit of indie rock, super rhythmic rapping, and lots of synths.

The Weeknd's 'Can't Feel My Face' is very experimental. It's pop meets urban meets indie meets alternative.

I've purposely made my music to be challenging and different. There's some electronics, R&B, blues, Motown, country, jazz and lots of soul.

I'm trying to bring a little bit of every type of sauce into one type of sound. Something that's really fresh.

Rock music is a funny thing: You can actually take it too far sometimes, and then it's not rock music anymore - it's something else, but it's not rock.

I did alternative rock before. That's why my style is the way it is now.

David Harrington, who's the violinist and founder of Kronos, is a super open-minded and adventurous guy.

'The Whale' was in the category of so-called serious music, and yet it brings together a wide series of musical styles. It was influenced by people such as The Beatles, the spirit of the times, and I think 'The Whale' certainly had a pop element to it.

I grew up with all different genres of music, and I want to include that in my production as well.

I didn't want to box myself into writing just rock music because you can try to force it into moments that don't want it.

I listen to all those kinds of music, from classic soul to hip-hop to Brazilian music to, you know, jazz to indie to alternative... And for me, when I'm making music, it's all in my head, and all those influences in my head. So if something comes to me that's a reference from a different genre then people are used to hearing from me, I'm not afraid to go there with it.

I'm a chameleon when it comes to guitar playing and like to stretch out into different territories.

'Europe '72' was a super influential record full of fantastic songs and amazing experimental musicianship. I always valued both of those aspects in what Sonic Youth has done through the years - being able to get very abstract and very concrete within the same song.

I listen to all kinds of music and sometimes I try to do something that's referential to an era or a genre, but it still sounds like me.

The tapes we were making would jump around with different styles, just quick parts of different songs. Hip-hop to jazz to funk to whatever else. And in a way, 'Check Your Head' ended up being like one of those pause-tapes.

I grew up playing in rock bands while I was listening to rap records. I like a lot of stuff.