Quotes by Stephen Malkmus

• If a voice is just too nice, without an edge, it kinda all flows by. You forget it. You don't listen to the lyrics.
• The lyrics are different from Nick Cave songs and lyrics. His songs are very narrative.
• There's no point that an album should sound like a watered down version of another album.
• We always did our own mixing.
• We were delighted to have Nigel as a producer. The only problem is that Nigel is so famous that he seems to dominate most interviews without being there.
• We're not on a desperate mission to write chart compatible stuff.
• We're probably a couple of freaks who've created their own little universe, are living in our own little world and that's the only place where we can survive.
• What producers did was mostly recording in the studio, so it never changed our sound just that much.
• If you want to be negative about the whole thing you can say all guitar bands after the Beatles were just a waste of time because the Beatles were the best. I think it's far better to give new records a try.
• Well, yeah, I sang to some songs on the radio or in the shower.
• I like that band Get Hustle. They're cool live. I haven't heard their records, though.
• I'm not sure if you can blame everything on the American way of life, but the United States are big. So, if you have a lot of people there, the percentage of stupid people is bound to be higher.
• Lou Reed is something like a personal favorite of mine, but you could always put me into that drawer of singers who can't really sing, who speak their songs.
• But, then again, I wouldn't call myself an indie-rock supporter even if there are some really good bands out there and there will always be some real good new bands.
• I guess the majority of people who want to ban certain musicians are the ones who are so proud of everything America stands for.
• Almost every band has somebody who's the main songwriter and who has a vision, a very clear idea of how a song should be.
• I never decided to start singing, to be a singer.
• I really do think everybody can sing.
• I think the focus of the media changes. At the moment the more electronic stuff like trip-hop was the flavor of the month, just a little while ago. It all depends on the angle, from which point of view you see it.
• I'm more into describing a scenario and I move around in that scenario.
• A good voice isn't so important. It's more important to sound really unique.
• I don't even think my voice is really good.