Latest Johnny Marr Quotes from Interviews

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• Sometimes people confuse contrivance and authenticity, and sometimes I think authenticity can get in the way of a good excuse to do something theatrical. I just don't like wasting opportunity - if you're going to do a photo session, if you're going to walk on stage, why not make it interesting?

  Johnny Marr

  Opportunity, Thinking, People

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I think one of the things about being around for a while and getting to know yourself is that when you do have these positive experiences, you don't take them for granted - you identify them and you make the most of them. I don't know - it's kind of cool getting old in a lot of ways.

  Johnny Marr

  Thinking, Kind, Granted

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I think it's a shame when pop culture forgets that theatricality is a big part of it. When Neil Young is fumbling around in his pocket looking for the right harmonica, it doesn't matter that he's a dude in the hat who is a man of the people - there's a theatricality there. You don't have to be David Bowie or the Kabuki theater to have that theatricality going on.

  Johnny Marr

  Men, Thinking, People

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I think some musicians can almost forget that the stage is something to do something on, even if that thing is standing still.

  Johnny Marr

  Thinking, Musician, Forget

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• The actual process of travel I really like, because that time on planes and in airports makes me feel like I'm moving around like a ghost. There's a certain aspect of justifiable downtime. I really feel like being online is so pervasive now.

  Johnny Marr

  Moving, Ghost, Online

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• That enforced time when you have to switch off, that you're on a plane, is so unusual these days. It's just that thing of not being able to interact with other people through e-mails or social media or whatever. It's crazy how you even notice that you're not able to do that. I find that the kind of traveling - long days, particularly if you go somewhere to do a show, and then traveling again the next day - a lot of people would find pretty challenging, but I find it energizing in a weird way.

  Johnny Marr

  Crazy, Long, People

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I suppose in some ways that's why my collaborations worked out, because I would go in the studio with such enthusiasm and it would never be a chore for me. I was never itching for the process to be done so we could get out live. It's a different matter for me now. Now I've noticed that I actually have one eye or one ear on how I'm going to do it on stage. And maybe that's because I'm the frontman in the group; I do believe that any good frontman should be impatient in the studio to get out.

  Johnny Marr

  Believe, Eye, Collaboration

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I never took fans for granted. I always assumed subconsciously that people who followed what I did were just people who were kind of like me.

  Johnny Marr

  People, Kind, Granted

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• Having your own space is getting rarer and rarer these days. It's dangerous giving someone like me - who grew up fantasizing about studios and records - the freedom and resources to build your own studio. I would just live in it, which is what I pretty much did for all of the '90s.

  Johnny Marr

  Giving, Dangerous, Just Live

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I find this kind of folk with guys in Wellington boots and washboards not good to listen to. That music is one step away from barn dancing as far as I'm concerned. Anyone under the age of 60 should not be wearing Wellington boots on stage.

  Johnny Marr

  Dancing, Guy, Age

  Source: pitchfork.com

• Occasionally, a great band would come along, like Blondie or OutKast who could be pop and bring interesting ideas into the mainstream at the same time. That's now gone, because of this weird mutation of pop, rap, R&B, bad rave, and supposedly soulful singing on top of it.

  Johnny Marr

  Rap, Ideas, Interesting

  Source: pitchfork.com

• I don't really care what music's made on - I love guitars, but I'm fine with great electronic music.

  Johnny Marr

  Guitar, Care, Made

  Source: pitchfork.com

• Now chart music is a genre all of its own and it's slipped away from what I understand pop music as. It's pretty difficult to take; it clogs up the airwaves.

  Johnny Marr

  Genre, Pops, Difficult

  Source: pitchfork.com

• Anything that's ever gotten on the charts as a result of "American Idol" or "The X Factor" in the UK. It's born out of karaoke culture. It's been a long time coming, but it's absolutely affected radio.

  Johnny Marr

  Idols, Long, Culture

  Source: pitchfork.com

• We're in a society where no one's putting a gun to your head and making you use your phone, but some people start to crack. "I Want the Heartbeat" is about the downside of it. People can and do break up friendships and relationships because of the internet, and that can't be good. You have to find a balance. You can't let it be the boss of you.

  Johnny Marr

  Heart, Gun, Phones

  Source: pitchfork.com

• I really like Howler and an American band on Sub Pop called Jaill. There will always be new bands that I like, it's always been that way. I still go out to shows. One thing I don't like now is this idea that all singing needs to be expressed at maximum volume with so much bullshit sentimentality - it's pervading regular pop music.

  Johnny Marr

  Ideas, Bullshit, Singing

  Source: pitchfork.com

• Some cities are really boring and straight.

  Johnny Marr

  Cities, Boring

  Source: pitchfork.com

• I moved to Portland because Modest Mouse is there. I didn't necessarily mean to live there permanently, but I've got a really good feeling for it. The sensibility there really suits me. I happened to have grown up in Manchester, a city that was a pretty cool place to be a musician. It's close to Portland in a lot of ways.

  Johnny Marr

  Mean, Cities, Feelings

  Source: pitchfork.com

• I had a feeling about what I wanted to say, and I wasn't really qualified to discuss real things out of America because I didn't grow up there.

  Johnny Marr

  Growing Up, Real, America

  Source: pitchfork.com

• Don't get me wrong, I think "Portlandia" is really funny, and quite brilliant, but I like to be in a city where I can hang out in Powell's Bookstore most nights and go out with my friends in a liberal, relaxed atmosphere. I wish more cities were like that.

  Johnny Marr

  Night, Thinking, Cities

  Source: pitchfork.com

• I'm not interested in trying to have people who might like other kinds of music follow me. I don't want to please them.

  Johnny Marr

  People, Trying, Want

  Source: pitchfork.com

• Earlier in my career, fans weren't a big consideration for me.

  Johnny Marr

  Careers, Fans, Consideration

  Source: pitchfork.com

• In the earlier part of the 90s, I was really hell-bent on discovering how new technology works and how to make records entirely without a producer, which isn't necessarily what fans wanted. But I had to do it because I felt it was in my destiny or whatever.

  Johnny Marr

  Technology, Destiny, Fans

  Source: pitchfork.com

• I haven't been walking around for years with some burning desire to do a solo record. If I had, maybe I'd have made a record that was experimental. Usually, the idea of a solo record is to get some weird stuff out of your system, but I don't think like that. I wasn't interested in making something that was a hard listen - maybe I'll get around to that some other time. I wanted it to sound effortless, not like I was trying to reinvent the wheel.

  Johnny Marr

  Thinking, Years, Ideas

  Source: pitchfork.com

• When you're young, you obviously have people you look up to. People like Andrew Oldham and Nile Rodgers inspired me then, and they inspire me now. But at some point, you start to try to be the best you can be and you're not copying anybody else. I'm just doing it in public, and my work needs to reflect that as well.

  Johnny Marr

  People, Inspire, Trying

  Source: pitchfork.com