Duke Ellington Quotes

Being in a band is about making the band the priority.

I've had nightmares about having to kick people out of my band because they've said that they don't like the Beatles. I'd wake up and turn to them and say, "You like the Beatles, right?"

Touring, it's really difficult to actually make a band work, and I think that's why there's so few bands that do work, actually, 'cause there's so much that goes into it.

If you bring somebody into the band you are going to be with them a lot whether it's in the studio, on the tour bus, or at dinner every night; you want somebody you enjoy being around. You don't want an annoying guy .

One of the things I feel very strong about is the achievement of the Band really being a complete band.

If you start off writing an album with a band, the reality is that you're constantly in each other's company, so it's really important that you get on with each other.

When I play with the full band, you get to be larger than life, you feel larger than life, and that particular moment in the song where there's passion, you've got nine guys behind you, all driving that sound and that feeling with you. That's like surfing a huge wave, because once you start you really can't stop it, you got it going down a huge mountain.

The thing about Matt Cameron is he has made us 1000 times a better band than we've ever been. He's such a freight train on drums and such a cool individual as a man that it makes us better as a band, and we are now complete with him.

If you have a great band with a mediocre drummer, you have a mediocre band. If you have a mediocre band with a great drummer, you have a great band!

When I clicked into this idea of doing a band and examining a band as a dysfunctional family, I wanted to reverse that Rescue Me formula.

Nobody leaves this band unless it's in a coffin

A lot of things just got distorted, like stories about each other. After the tour we never talked. I believe a band should be a band.

Our newest member is Johnny Colt, who was bass player with The Black Crowes. Colt fits right in with us. He's loony as heck, and so are we. We have a great time and love doing what we do. I hope Johnny is with us for a long, long time. He is quite the guy.

You don't have to be a great drummer to be the most important guy in the band.

When we first started, and I jumped in this band, I was like, 'I'm not a singer.' I didn't go to school to sing. I just played to have fun. But these guys teach me, and they show me stuff and give me courage to try new stuff.

All the stories are the least of my worries - I'm so used to it. There's never been anybody trying to get away from the band, because this is what we all wanna do.

Whenever we come back from another project, we're always so stoked to see each other and play with each other again. I really feel like that's been the key to why we're still together as a band. I remember a period five or six years ago feeling a little burnt out and wasn't sure whether I wanted to keep doing it.

Usually my records are made trying to capture the essence of a band playing in a room.

When I joined the band I didn't know any of the tunes, and when I left the band I didn't know any of the tunes!

My name is on the thing, but the reality of it is, when I get up there on stage, I'm part of a band. I'm part of a unit. It's like a basketball team.

I enjoy the collaboration. I always envied people in bands who got to have that interaction.

It always offended me when I was in the studio and the engineer or the assumed producer for the session would start bossing the band around. That always seemed like a horrible insult to me.

I have so much pride and love for the songs of The Smiths. However, I must ask you, if you come across any Smiths CDs, don't buy them, because all the money goes to that wretched drummer.

It's interesting, there are a lot of similarities with being in the music business or being in a band, where a lot of it is business work you've gotta do, like emails. It's weird, I don't feel like I'm in charge.

All musicians are potential band leaders.