Rick Allen Quotes

You can't improvise if you are tense. Or thinking too much. You have to really let it go.

When you're out there in the heat of the moment and you're pitching, and it's a big situation, you're saying 'Don't throw a ball, don't give up a hit, don't walk this guy.' But the harder you want to control something the more it gets out of your control.

I give everything far too much thought. If you think you know what you're doing, then you can kind of relax, and then you can improvise and play and just enjoy the day rather than be chasing the lines.

There's a thing about trying too hard, which I think is in all forms, which is if you really try to do things really well, you can get to a less good place than if you just let go and let it fly. Especially in creativity.

I enjoy performing, always, but when you're taping a gig, you've got to blank out this mass apparatus of self-consciousness that's surrounding you, this invitation to drown in self-consciousness. Otherwise you just won't be able to do anything.

Whenever I start to really think about what I'm playing, I may play it better musically, but the feeling isn't there.

If I know somebody is coming 'round, it is incredibly difficult for me to work because I'm waiting for this interruption - even the children's comings and goings are interruptions. Cake-making is a good way of coming out of that space.

Sometimes when you're trying to do a record too close to home, you can get really distracted.

It's a mistake to dwell too much on the consequences of a piece of work that you're making.

Usually, people have a tendency to be caught in the worries concerning the future or in the regret concerning the past. There is some kind of energy that is pushing them to run, and they are not able to establish themselves in the present moment.

That's when the great stuff happens, when you're not checking yourself all the time, being critical of yourself and what other people are doing.

The main thing to do is relax and let your talent do the work.

But then I go through long periods where I don't listen to things, usually when I'm working. In between the records and in between the writing I suck up books and music and movies and anything I can find.

I go to bed late. My mind starts going at night - that's when those creative juices begin flowing.

No good work is ever done while the heart is hot and anxious and fretted.

If my mind's not trying to fix something or create something, I don't know what to do. It just throws me off.

If you come on a band tense, you're going to play tense. If you come a little bit foolish, act just a little bit foolish, and let yourself go, better ideas will come.

I really wish I worried less.

The rule of improvisation I took to heart was, 'Don't think.' I tend to over-think things, so that was a big lesson for me.

Acting is like golf: analysis leads to paralysis.

I think when I start thinking about results, I stop playing the right way because I start getting too nervous.

When you're doing so much, there's so much on your mind. The bigger the artist you become, you have to think a lot more. I'm trying not to overthink everything!

Music is a job, but I figured out ways to get my mind into a place where I could be creative. I actually discovered meditation. It enabled me to clear my mind of all the drama and focus on the music.

A lot of times when I'm confident and relaxed on the court, I'm going to be a pretty tough out. But when I'm not so confident and not so relaxed, I tense up and my balls fall short and everything. It just sort of unravels.