Latest Tony Visconti Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• I think the whole obsession with old gear is completely overblown. You don't need old-fashioned gear to make a great-sounding record. You don't even need [analog] tape.

  Tony Visconti

  Thinking, Needs, Tape

  Source: therumpus.net

• You don't necessarily need expensive gear or giant budgets to reach an audience.

  Tony Visconti

  Giants, Needs, Gears

  "Sound & Vision: Tony Visconti". Interview with Allyson Mccabe, therumpus.net. January 4, 2016.

• You could make some great sounds with technology. That's what recording is all about. What happens in the studio is very magical, and should be, in my opinion.

  Tony Visconti

  Technology, Sound, Opinion

  "Sound & Vision: Tony Visconti". Interview with Allyson Mccabe, therumpus.net. January 4, 2016.

• I like to work with people who have a sense of putting a song over, and can sing in tune, and with passion. With technology you can polish a turd, but there's still no button you can press for passion.

  Tony Visconti

  Song, Passion, Technology

  "Sound & Vision: Tony Visconti". Interview with Allyson Mccabe, therumpus.net. January 4, 2016.

• Some people do rely too much on technology. Look, technology is wonderful and I love it. When I was in the UK and I had hit records I would also have a high tax bill at the end of the year, and that would be the time to buy up all the technology - it was write offs.

  Tony Visconti

  Writing, Technology, Years

  "Sound & Vision: Tony Visconti". Interview with Allyson Mccabe, therumpus.net. January 4, 2016.

• The labels are not getting the returns they want from their PR. Plus, for every Taylor Swift there are a hundred thousand nobodies out there who are probably making better music. Self-releasing is the only way to go.

  Tony Visconti

  Self, Labels, Want

  "Sound & Vision: Tony Visconti". Interview with Allyson Mccabe, therumpus.net. January 4, 2016.

• Every time I meet the CEO of a record label I tell them how they did it in the seventies because they want to know. I tell them, "Sign a hundred people! Throw it against the wall and see which ones stick!" And they frown and say, "Oh, we can't do that!" and they start mumbling about demographics and this and that.

  Tony Visconti

  Wall, People, Labels

  "Sound & Vision: Tony Visconti". Interview with Allyson Mccabe, therumpus.net. January 4, 2016.

• Any respectable artist has really given up on a label because the labels are still kidding themselves that the only way to go is to sign these big names like Lady Gaga and expect to make gazillions.

  Tony Visconti

  Artist, Names, Labels

  "Sound & Vision: Tony Visconti". Interview with Allyson Mccabe, therumpus.net. January 4, 2016.

• I kind of liked the method of the seventies where they would throw a little bit of money at a hundred different groups - not millions of dollars per group, but, you know, a few thousand. Throw them in the studio, and if five of those groups came out with a hit record it would be money well spent.

  Tony Visconti

  Groups, Different, Dollars

  "Sound & Vision: Tony Visconti". Interview with Allyson Mccabe, therumpus.net. January 4, 2016.

• The eighties turned the whole system upside down. They would sign three groups and give them five or ten million dollars each to make three records. Out of those three records maybe one would be a hit. The economy changed, and that's why the music changed.

  Tony Visconti

  Giving, Groups, Dollars

  Source: therumpus.net

• Towards the end of the seventies pop was gaining the momentum and respectability was very high with groups like Yes and Queen who were making "classical" rock records. They were also bringing in big bucks. So the eighties became the "bottom line" decade.

  Tony Visconti

  Queens, Rocks, Groups

  "Sound & Vision: Tony Visconti". Interview with Allyson Mccabe, therumpus.net. January 4, 2016.

• Pop was initially ignored as a moneymaker by the recording industry. In the seventies they were still relying on Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett for their big hits. You know, most of the budget for the record companies in those days went to the classical department - and those were big budget albums.

  Tony Visconti

  Albums, Records, Ignored

  "Sound & Vision: Tony Visconti". Interview with Allyson Mccabe, therumpus.net. January 4, 2016.