Bernie Worrell Quotes

Usually I don't think much in terms of interesting sounds. Although I think I want to get one of those whammy pedals, I forget what it's called and who makes it. It's got a whole bunch of different settings. You can play a note and it will raise the pitch when you push the pedal.

There's something about a Gucci loafer kicking on a fuzz pedal.

When I need to nail that riff to the cross, Marshall will always provide the hammer!

On 'Honeybabysweetiedoll' I used a Whammy, a Boss OC-3 octave box, a Sustainer and a Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler. That's only on the intro, where all those weird noises are happening.

'No Bones' has some reverb that I kick around.

You can't really dance properly to James Brown. If you dance to James Brown, you look like an idiot. There's a lot of jerking.

We incorporate various electronic devices - the echo plugs and things like that. Actually, all we're trying to do is make that sound musical. As opposed to just making sounds, we do musical things with them.

I enjoy working with complicated equipment. A lot of my things started just with a rhythm box, but I feed it through so many things that what comes out sounds very complex and rich.

A wah-wah is important as well. I love it; it makes the guitar scream.

The Marshall guitar amplifier doesn't just get louder when you turn it up. It distorts the sound to produce a whole range of new harmonics, effectively turning a plucked string instrument into a bowed one.

I play a Fender Jazzmaster and three stacks and a combo, two old Marshall Plexis and a Hiwatt combo and a Hiwatt combo with Marshall cabs.

Anything can become a musical sound. The wind on telegraph wires is a great sound; get it into your machine and play it and it becomes interesting.

My first bit of gear was a Roland JV-1010 sound module. I used to hammer the hell out of that.

Distortion pedals are just fantastic for not only rehearsing quietly but also for all those moments when you are going to play in highly compressed environments like radio, television, or recording against compressed loops.

I use Bogner amps and custom-designed Schecter guitars with Seymour Duncan Invader pickups. I beef up my tone with a Boss CS- 3 Compression Sustainer. It's kinda like my secret weapon.

Guitar Center hooks me up on a lot of stuff.

I'm old enough to remember seeing James Brown live.

I was inspired by James Brown, Michael Jackson and Prince.

I love The Isley Brothers.

I was playing surf music with my band when a girlfriend of mine who had come from Los Angeles took me to a James Brown concert. That show really changed my whole outlook and thought processes, especially about music and different cultures.

I have been using small teardrop jazz picks since I was, like, 14.

I've got a few great old Marshalls that I use live: '71 and '72 heads and an old combo with 2x12s.

To me, I don't see any difference between a synthesizer and an acoustic instrument. It's what's done on it that counts.

A young musician needs a powerful laptop and a good analogue synthesiser.

When I hear something new, mostly in rhythms, I often find it interesting to recreate it in a studio in a completely different way.