Trey Anastasio Quotes

I haven't heard anything so great for a long time; Beethoven snaps his fingers at the whole world.

There are more inspirational people in music than there are in politics.

I know when somebody's heard my music. I can hear it in their music.

There is no doubt that the first requirement for a composer is to be dead.

When they look back on me I want 'em to remember me not for all my wives, although I've had a few, and certainly not for any mansions or high livin' money I made and spent. I want 'em to remember me simply for my music.

I make a timeless music. I think I've made my mark as a lyricist and as an innovator and as a tastemaker.

Hearing Jimi Hendrix as a little kid and falling in love with everything that he did on guitar rewired my basic nature. To me, that was a normal thing that you should do: you should strive to be as innovative as Hendrix.

And, it seems like a whole new generation of kids have discovered his genius and are bringing him to life again. I hope that wherever Michael is right now he is smiling about this. Yes, Michael Jackson was a human being but he was a king. Long live the king.

I saw Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, which I thought was a masterpiece. Not that long ago, I listened to Blackstar by David Bowie and thought that was a masterpiece. Those are two incredibly talented people who've left their mark with us.

Studios might support people trying to do something a little bit different and they'd be more open to the fact that there's more than one path to the waterfall.

ELVIS PRESLEY was bigger than life. His success was documented and laid out for him. He came to the first show I had in Memphis, and it was very nice. He sort of treated me like an equal, because we were both fresh in the business. We got to be great friends and kindred souls.

The Beatles gave me everything. Especially Paul McCartney. I adore him.

When I saw Jimi Hendrix I knew immediately that this guy was the real thing ... and when he played it was like a rough sketch of what he was going to become ... this guy was our generation, and he wasn't in a suit .. he played a Howlin' Wolf song 'Killing Floor', and then we (The Cream) had to carry on the set. It was pretty hard to follow.

Mozart, who was buried in a pauper’s grave, was one of the greatest successes we know of, a man who in his early thirties had poured out his inexhaustible gift of music, leaving the world richer because he had passed that way. To leave the world richer—that is the ultimate success.

It comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best things humans have done. And then try to bring those things in to what you're doing.

The only people in the world who can change things are those who can sell ideas.

When you receive criticism from well-meaning people, it pays to ask, ‘Are they right?’ And if they are, you need to adapt what they’re doing. If they’re not right, if you really have conviction that they’re not right, you need to have that long-term willingness to be misunderstood. It’s a key part of invention.

I'm still doing me. I try to come up with different concept for my shows, you gotta keep the people interested, but I'm still me.

When you're young, you obviously have people you look up to. People like Andrew Oldham and Nile Rodgers inspired me then, and they inspire me now. But at some point, you start to try to be the best you can be and you're not copying anybody else. I'm just doing it in public, and my work needs to reflect that as well.

Great art comes from great artists. There’s a bunch of people that are hurt that still couldn’t have made the album that was super-polarizing and redefined the sound of radio.

As long as there are still interesting stories and still interesting people that we want to meet, I can keep it going. But, we all have to be invested. If the room starts getting bored or I start getting restless, then we'll either have to change something in the show or maybe end it.

Not many people bought Velvet Underground LPs, but those who did, started a band.

People can get involved in wonderfully creative ways that have nothing to do with you, but spark off things you begin with.

You can only inspire when you give people a new way of looking at the world in which they live.

People who try to create a musical revolution do not have a chance, but those who turn their back to music can sometimes find it.