A biography for Michael Pennhasn’t been written yet.
“Performing is not the most natural function of a human being, I'm convinced.”
“I'm just trying to keep working.”
“That entitlement and the sort of - I think that's just perennial. I just think that's constant. And it's part of the American experience of the 21st century, period.”
“I've always felt rock is folk music.”
“When I talk about pop music needing someone dangerous, I wish that could be me.”
“Just talking about the schedule and logistics of a tour is fine, but if the interview gets into lyrics and the music in a real way, that's difficult.”
“Playing live doesn't inform how I write songs, and I don't write much on the road, because it's not a conducive atmosphere.”
“I was not a sports guy in school; I was in the geeky music clique. We shared a spot on the quad with the drama geeks.”
“I sort of felt like, as the black sheep, I didn't want to go into the family business; everyone would think it was nepotism.”
“I've been writing songs since I was a kid. You just hope that you get better.”
“Aimee and I are seen as very dour songwriters, and we're both kind of uncomfortable just talking.”
“If folk is the music of the common people and not the intellectual elite, then that's what rock is.”
“I used to be paranoid for a couple reasons.”
“Basically, what happened was, Lena was on the fence as to whether or not she wanted 'Girls' to have a theme song. She asked me to write one, so I did.”
“Record companies are like cat breeders who find a breed they can make some money off of, in-breed it until it's sickly and dying off, and then move on to the next breed.”
“I'm not interested in getting up on a box and yelling, 'Sinner repent.'”
“I'm not going to be an entertainer, in the sense of trying to do more than get across the song.”
“I'm not sure pop music is ever really healthy. It always needs something dangerous. If it doesn't keep that edge, it gets taken over by people in suits.”
“I grew up in the '70s, and there was a romantic notion, at least that I had, that you could have a career making records without touring all that much.”
“When you try in a relationship, there is a concerted effort to make it work on the part of one of the people.”