Michael Azerrad Quotes and Sayings - Page 1
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“Just as not all popular albums are wonderful, not all wonderful albums are popular.”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“Ten percent of the American population thinks that Barack Obama is a Muslim. Those are the people that have not learned the skill of filtering information from the vast barrage of inaccurate information that we're all faced with everyday. I think that's a very 21st century skill.”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“Naturally, no one knows more about music than musicians. They talk about their own work all the time, but they rarely get to talk about other people's music.”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“I'm always very careful to make the distinction between music criticism and music journalism. A lot of people don't. But criticism doesn't require reporting. You can write criticism at home in your underwear. On the other hand, journalism takes legwork - you have to get out there and see things and talk to people.”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“For Nirvana, putting out their first major-label record was like getting into a new car. But the runaway success was like suddenly discovering that the car was a Ferrari and the accelerator pedal was Krazy Glued to the floorboard.”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“Bon Jovi's trick is to use heavy-metal chords and still sound absolutely safe. Rock & roll used to be rebellion disguised as commercialism; now so much of it is commercialism disguised as rebellion.”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“Back in the day, in '91 or so, I tried to interview Fugazi for Rolling Stone, which the band felt stood for everything they detested about corporate infiltration of music. They said, 'We'll do the interview if you give us a million dollars of cash in a suitcase.' Which was their way of saying no.”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“A lot of music fans are still interested in insightful perspectives on music - maybe even more interested than ever, since everyone needs help making sense of the incredible variety of sounds that have sprung up in the wake of the Internet revolution. There's a lot of room for unique, qualified voices who can provide good reads.”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“There's no glamour in Nirvana, no glamour at all, in fact.”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“There's a whole apparatus for indie bands now, but back in the eighties it was just getting built. The early people really took it on the chin.”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“Nine Inch Nails' sound is dominated by clanging synths and sardonic, shrieking vocals.”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“I really believe in the power of music - and I mean literally the power of musical tones - to rearrange the way you can think.”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“I have this theory, bands with enigmatic lyrics attract crazies.”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“As a journalist, I'm not supposed to be the subject, but as an author, I'm fair game - another ingredient in the media soup.”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“The online musical universe has become Balkanized, with many sites focusing on minute niches. That works well for reaching very specific demographics, which is wonderful for advertising, but it flies in the face of the common wisdom that people's tastes have become more diverse as music of any description has become a mouse-click away.”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“In eras past, mainstream culture was blandly, blindly complacent, so underground music was angry and dissatisfied. But now, mainstream culture isn’t complacent, it’s stupid and angry; underground culture reacts by becoming smarter, more serene. That’s not wimpy—it’s powerful and productive.”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“To begin with, the key principle of American indie rock wasn't a circumscribed musical style; it was the punk ethos of DIY, or do-it-yourself. Â The equation was simple: Â If punk was rebellious and DIY was rebellious, then doing it yourself was punk. Â 'Punk was about more than just starting a band,' former Minutemen bassist Mike Watt once said, 'it was about starting a label, it was about touring, it was about taking control. Â It was like songwriting; you just do it. Â You want a record, you pay the pressing plant. Â That's what it was all about.'”
-- Michael Azerrad -
“When you're writing, you're only a brain and some fingers, but drumming, you're involving all four limbs, and you're hearing stuff and you're converting your ideas into physical motions, getting physical feedback from things you are touching - it's pretty cool. It's a really a nice contrast to writing.”
-- Michael Azerrad
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