Alexis Taylor Quotes

It's funny, I played a social gig once - we were playing music that was rhythm based, but it was going in some strange places. Some people came up to me afterward and said, "Can you play a tune that we'll all recognize?" I've carried that with me forever - why would you want a tune you could recognize? What's the point of that?

Alexis Taylor

People, Forever, Strange

4 Copy quote
I think being a DJ is that thing of learning what makes a crowd move. As a DJ, you're constantly learning. It's like chess or something. After a couple of years, you think you're good, then you see a real DJ that's been doing it for 20 years and they just blow you away. I think that's one of the things I like about DJing: you can get better and better and better.

Alexis Taylor

Couple, Real, Moving

Source: www.rollingstone.com

3 Copy quote
We're still making Hot Chip records whilst doing these other things, so why not just try and make music you enjoy making rather than being tied down by things? It would just be crazy to not allow people to make music.

Alexis Taylor

Crazy, People, Trying

3 Copy quote
I find it really disappointing and cheap when someone's copied the whole drum sound from a record.

Alexis Taylor

Sound, Records, Disappointing

Source: pitchfork.com

6 Copy quote
I'll also listen to music on a Discman and realize how nice it can sound when it's not compressed to MP3 format.

Alexis Taylor

Nice, Mp3, Sound

"Hot Chip". Interview with Ryan Dombal, pitchfork.com. June 8, 2012.

5 Copy quote
I like the fact that everyone is nostalgic for vinyl, and I'm being nostalgic for CDs, which are like the new outdated things that no one is going to mourn the loss of - everyone's already written them off.

Alexis Taylor

Loss, Cds, Facts

"Hot Chip". Interview with Ryan Dombal, pitchfork.com. June 8, 2012.

3 Copy quote
Some people are better at seeing things through to a logical conclusion as far as copying things they like from other people's records; they understand what Brian Eno did and they just do it.

Alexis Taylor

People, Copying, Records

"Hot Chip". Interview with Ryan Dombal, pitchfork.com. June 8, 2012.

3 Copy quote
I've always found it interesting when I'm the person in the audience feeling mismatched by what I've seen or heard. The shows I've taken the most from I may have not liked while I was there listening to it but, maybe an hour later, there's suddenly a lightening bolt out of the blue: "Oh, I'd see them again."

Alexis Taylor

Taken, Interesting, Feelings

3 Copy quote
I'm quite interested in what words can be, if it's very few words, and it's a kind of club track but it has a sort of uplifting or spiritual kind of feeling to it. Somehow, something bigger than just the words on the page happens when you hear it all together. Sometimes I notice when I'm DJing, I put on a lot of tracks that feature vocals. I guess for me, it's just from growing up loving songs, so maybe I'm geared slightly more towards dance music that features a song element.

Alexis Taylor

Uplifting, Spiritual, Song

Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

3 Copy quote
When bands are on stage and they ask the crowd, "Are you having a good time?" what they're really saying is, "I just want a bit of reassurance - is everything all right?"

Alexis Taylor

Band, Crowds, Want

"Hot Chip". Interview with Ryan Dombal, pitchfork.com. June 8, 2012.

14 Copy quote
If you can do something that doesn't rely on a major melody but still sounds immediate rather than being obtuse and devoid of anything to catch onto, that's great.

Alexis Taylor

Sound, Melody, Stills

"Hot Chip". Interview with Ryan Dombal, pitchfork.com. June 8, 2012.

3 Copy quote
There is no decision to be more or less comic. I don't feel more or less humorous in my day-to-day. These things are accidental.

Alexis Taylor

Humorous, Decision, Comic

Source: pitchfork.com

3 Copy quote
When you're making the record, you're not thinking about an audience, but you still need them and you want them.

Alexis Taylor

Thinking, Needs, Records

"Hot Chip". Interview with Ryan Dombal, pitchfork.com. June 8, 2012.

3 Copy quote
To stop for years and then discover that the audience is getting smaller and smaller would be demoralizing.

Alexis Taylor

Years, Would Be, Audience

"Hot Chip". Interview with Ryan Dombal, pitchfork.com. June 8, 2012.

3 Copy quote
Starting out, I remember being on the same bill with other bands, and I always thought they were so much better because they were rehearsed and had all their moves down and they sounded really tight.

Alexis Taylor

Moving, Band, Starting Out

"Hot Chip". Interview with Ryan Dombal, pitchfork.com. June 8, 2012.

3 Copy quote
A lot of people in the crowd want to be told what to do; if you just put your hands up, they do it.

Alexis Taylor

Hands, People, Crowds

"Hot Chip". Interview with Ryan Dombal, pitchfork.com. June 8, 2012.

3 Copy quote
I know that I can't ever write a song that just sounds completely saccharin. Even if I'm singing about someone being my complete love life, I'm singing about my own inabilities to be as bright as that person.

Alexis Taylor

Song, Writing, Love Life

Source: pitchfork.com

3 Copy quote
I don't love CDs more than anything else, but I was just playing around with the idea that they could be something you're momentarily keeping hold of as everything is passing by.

Alexis Taylor

Passing By, Cds, Ideas

"Hot Chip". Interview with Ryan Dombal, pitchfork.com. June 8, 2012.

3 Copy quote
There's another thing that you don't want to take for granted, and that's the reality of there being an audience there each night. It's pretty amazing that that can happen around the world.

Alexis Taylor

Night, Reality, World

"Hot Chip". Interview with Ryan Dombal, pitchfork.com. June 8, 2012.

3 Copy quote
When a band first comes along, they should be confusing and doing something people don't accept. You don't want the first reaction to just be, "Oh, I get that."

Alexis Taylor

People, Confusing, Band

"Hot Chip". Interview with Ryan Dombal, pitchfork.com. June 8, 2012.

3 Copy quote
For me, the audience is the most important thing in the whole chain, so finding out how they respond to things is a learning curve at all times.

Alexis Taylor

Important, All Time, Audience

3 Copy quote
It's not like that because the improvisation makes it automatically democratic. No one's leading anything. I didn't have to worry about anyone feeling involved. It was just the most natural, easy process of making music.

Alexis Taylor

Worry, Feelings, Easy

3 Copy quote
In the recording process, sometimes people feel that there isn't a space for them to contribute.

Alexis Taylor

People, Sometimes

3 Copy quote
When I first started doing stuff outside of Hot Chip, I got the impression that Joe Goddard was a bit concerned. But I said, "I really want to record these songs quickly and not turn them into dance music." And he was fairly supportive - maybe not wholly supportive. But then you learn that no one's about to quit the band, so it seems good and healthy.

Alexis Taylor

Song, Healthy, Supportive

3 Copy quote
I was listening to a lot more folk music. I love the sound of acoustic guitars but I didn't want to be that person standing up there strumming away.

Alexis Taylor

Listening, Folk Music

3 Copy quote

Latest quotes from interviews

"I've always found it interesting when I'm the person in the audience feeling mismatched by what I've seen or heard. The shows I've taken the most from I may have not liked while I was there listening to it but, maybe an hour later, there's suddenly a lightening bolt out of the blue: "Oh, I'd see them again.""

- Alexis Taylor,

pitchfork.com, added Jan 27, 2018

More (30)