Gord Downie Quotes

There are three things we need to do for a band. We need to make a great record; we need to get the record played; and we need to find an audience for the live shows.

But the exposure we got by doing the stint with Nine Inch Nails brought us a lot of attention.

I don't want to just sell out shows to young girls who like my movie franchise. I want to sell tickets because people respect me.

I want as many people as possible to hear my music. I'm happy to entertain people by being a star.

It's like they had a backlash the first 11 years. I think the reason why it always seems like there's a backlash is because when bands are unknown, they only get written about by fans.

You know, if nobody knows who you are, nobody's going to buy your record.

I knew people liked me on 'American Idol,' but I didn't think they'd care to come see me sing at my own show.

We were a very popular live band in London, packing in 6,000 people a night, and the record companies that came after us wanted us to be the flavor of the month.

You can be a supergroup without having good songs.

The hardest part about the music industry for anyone is getting into the ears of the world.

'The Fire in The Booth' exposed me to a wider audience. I had hundreds of thousands of followers, loyal followers before that, that's been following me on the journey.

I think it's all about the people who listen to your music, and loving playing and writing. Once you've got those two, and they're your main two priorities, then radio and TV and all the other stuff that comes with it will come. But that's not the be-all end-all.

The record business has always mystified me. Sometimes there are reasons why things sell or don't sell that can't be understood by mere mortals.

I think it's a very ephemeral thing, what makes a show a success.

Right from the first time we went to America in 1968, Led Zeppelin was a word-of-mouth thing. You can't really compare it to how it is today.

It's such a cycle. You'll see a rapper drop a song, and next thing you know, he's gone.

I was very blessed with 'N Sync. It was a big success and it was a lot of fun.

I mean it's funny, playing music, how of course you want it to do well, you want them to like it, but it's not competitive like an election, it's the Olympics, it's not a Formula 1 race. The Billboard charts are just to show you what people like.

In the years between 2000 and 2004, I always got the feeling that people were just starting to hear about me, and they were all late to the game. I'd be out playing shows for records that I recorded back in 1999 that were just coming out.

Even though the popularity and the fanbase is much much greater, and more people have heard about me through things like the Grammys and the Ivors and touring and word of mouth, it doesn't reflect in the sales of the record and doesn't go into my pocket.

Being a new band, I just can't think of a better way to get your name out to all of the Hard-Rock crowd than playing with twenty of the biggest Hard-Rock bands in the world.

A Grammy is really nice, but having lots of fans is really nice, too. I think just getting a record out is a success on its own.

I think that people are interested seeing me on the screen.

The bottom line is the Kiss Army is growing by leaps and bounds.

The music sold itself before anybody knew who I was.