Ian Gillan Quotes

We must welcome the future, remembering that soon it will be the past; and we must respect the past, remembering that it was once all that was humanly possible.

It's not about battling the original artists when I record these songs, it's about paying tribute to them.

We went into this with the utmost respect for the source material, but we recognized the need for change.

The reason we see more recreations is because people want to re-introduce some iconic songs to the younger generation. I support recreations too, as long as they're done well and respectfully. I have done a couple myself too, but when I recreate a song, I do it like a tribute to the makers of the original song.

The New Lost City Ramblers are a very good comparison, actually. They really took the music seriously, and we take the music very seriously. But we don't take ourselves seriously at all.

I think you have to show homage to creators.

There are a lot of different elements in play when you're remaking something people care about.

'Dexter' has been very, very good to me. I would rather stop doing it than cheapen it.

In a way, the highest praise you could give to a composer like Bach was to take and make your own arrangement; it was sort of an homage to that composer and to his work, so it wasn't considered sacrilegious to do something like that.

It's nice to sometimes get things out of life, rather than stealing from other artists. I'm trying to steal from the real people.

It may be that my most helpful contributions to music aren't my compact discs but my articles about other great singers of the past for American Heritage magazine.

A man of merit owes himself to the homage of the rest of mankind who recognize his worth.

History provides an antidote to cynicism about the past.

When I was coming up, we weren't trying to get a hit or get paid, we were just trying to do our thing. The only thing we were really trying to do was to be recognized for our originality.

We cannot afford to neglect some recognition of our past, even though we gaze into the future.

Some people like to reform everything they can get their hands on. Others want to fold away and worship whatever is presented to them by the caprice of history.

In our eyes, heroes, gods, masters do not exist. We love and respect every musician, whether from the past, the future, or... someone who doesn't yet exist... just as much as birdsong interests us.

There is always a reverence issue, and I'm no different from any audience member that if someone's adapting a book or comic that I like, I really don't want them to screw it up.

Sometimes you've got to tip your cap when they're painting stuff on the corner. But you can't give up, got to keep battling and make some adjustments.

These guys from the past really motivate me, much respect to the guys before me and the ones after me.

For me, I wear a suit because I need to remember what's happened before me.

Skynyrd just hasn't gotten its just due.

While I honor the soldiers in my family, and I am a student of history, the past is the past, and I do not live in the past.

We'll never do a show without honouring Steo in some shape or form, and that's really important to us.

Use it, enjoy it, but always handle history with care.