Lou Barlow

“Young bands are so angry. There are young bands that are so incredibly successful, getting incredible reviews, and they are totally angry.”

“I have an aversion to taking care of my gear, a wayward manifestation of my punk ethos.”

“Harmony Korine, the screenwriter, was really into my early work. I did a lot of stuff under the name Sentridoh and a lot of 4-track cassette stuff that he was into.”

“Maybe I can't write without painting myself into a corner first.”

“At nine or ten, I was playing guitar in music class in my elementary school in Jackson, Michigan. They had a guitar class, and I played with ten of my classmates, and we did a little guitar orchestra for a school music.”

“After discovering the Ramones, I discovered really crude ways to multi-track by taking another cassette recorder and plugging that into the eight-track, playing it back, so that as I was recording with the mic in my guitar, I could have another cassette player I had recorded on feeding into the recording.”

“I don't focus on one thing. I play guitar and bass and keyboards and drums, but I never stay on anything long enough to become a specialist at it.”

“I just write... I follow the melodies that I can't forget/the ones that pop up in my brain the most.”

“Look for magic in daily routine.”

“When you're in a band, it's kind of a big thing to be friends as well.”

“The Music Machine is my favorite rock band ever.”

“I like all the obnoxious Eagles stuff that just drives people crazy. I love 'Life In The Fast Lane' and 'Hotel California.'”

“If you put heavy, regular classic guitar strings on a baritone ukulele, it gets pretty low. It has a really nice, low, warm feel to it.”

“Someone who's a really good engineer is someone who's a little bit smarter than you but who also listens to you and doesn't impose agendas.”

“I hear people telling me a lot that the production of that particular record - 'One Part Lullaby' - really influenced them. I'm like, 'What? We were dropped from the label after that!'”

“I have really severe tinnitus.”

“At 12 or 13, I picked up a guitar because my mother made me learn how to play.”

“I'll figure something out by writing a song about it.”

“I enjoy Dinosaur for what it is. It's a unique band that has a unique chemistry.”

“Music doesn't always bring me to tears; if I hear 'Love' by John Lennon at a vulnerable moment, it will bring me to tears.”