Ben Harper

“You look like gold. I've been fooled before, but now I know I've made the mistake in the past. But now I, now I know the difference from gold and brass.”

“I love being on the road, I love playing.”

“My choice is what I choose to do,And if I'm causing no harm, it shouldn't bother you.Your choice is who you choose to be,And if you're causin' no harm, then you're alright with me.”

“I refuse to make uninspired music.”

“I'm not going to do the Ben Harper house record or the Ben Harper drum 'n' bass record.”

“When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone - it's possible. But creatively, it's more like painting: you can't just use the same colours in every painting. It's just not an option. You can't take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.”

“Right now I'm listening to a lot of different things but I listen to a lot of classical music. Eventually I would like to compose and perform classical.”

“Every single time I step into the studio, I say, 'Can I still do this? Do I still have it? Have I ever had it?' I suppose there's a good amount of self-loathing that goes into any form of artisanship.”

“We figured you could download live shows for days, so we decided to go for a cream-of-the-crop approach, but not just take the best vocal or the best performances.”

“I grew up with the Blind Boys' music. My family owns a music store in Claremont, California, called The Claremont Folk Music Center. I grew up with a heavy diet of gospel, folk, and blues because those are kind of the cornerstones of traditional American music.”

“If I fall, I fall. I'll rise up like anybody else.”

“I refuse to age disgracefully in rock 'n' roll.”

“There's something in everyone only they know.”

“I'm really looking forward to, not more of the same, but a continual growth.”

“All that we can't say is all we need to hear.”

“So it's not so much that I set out to do something different, it's just that the songs themselves require their own individual voice and attention.”

“But I would never insult the people that love this music and I would never insult the blessing of music in my life and I would never insult myself by playing uninspired music.”

“Folk is bare bones music.”

“As long as the songs are strong, I think you can express yourself in any style and have it be soulful and have it be your own voice.”

“When it comes to writers and poets, for me it's Vinicius de Moraes. He's one of the greatest lyricists ever.”