1. For me the Beatles are proof of the existence of God.
2. I guess edgy things tend to get my attention.
3. I like things that are unique and extreme.
4. The power of nature is what all art strives to be.
5. Everything I do, whether it’s producing or signing an artist, always starts with the songs.
6. When I’m listening, I’m looking for a balance that you can see in anything. Whether it’s a great painting or a building or a sunset.
7. In between 15 and 20 — probably at around 17 — my interests switched from hard rock to punk rock. And then by 20 they were circling out of punk rock back into Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, the stuff that I didn’t get into when I was younger.
8. I’m just trying to make my favorite music. That’s how I work.
9. I want to be touched by the music I’m making. Luckily, other people have shared that response to my work over the years.
10. I never decide if an idea is good or bad until I try it.
11. So much of what gets in the way of things being good is thinking that we know. And the more that we can remove any baggage we’re carrying with us and just be in the moment, use our ears, pay attention to what’s happening and just listen to the inner voice that directs us, the better.
12. Everything happens kind of the way it’s supposed to happen and we just watch it unfold. And you can’t control it. Looking back, you can’t say, ‘I should have … ‘ You didn’t and had you the outcome would have been different.
13. I’m a work in progress. I have revelations every day.
14. There’s a tremendous power in using the least amount of information to get a point across.
15. What I’ve learned is a hard question to answer. Learning is ongoing.
16. When you’re a kid, you don’t really know the difference between magic and spirituality.
17. At one time, science said the world was flat, and everybody believed it. The fact is, we don’t know anything for sure.
18. Making art is a mystical process — a lot of people who are artists don’t understand it themselves. Especially the young ones. They feel different, but they don’t know what it is. They feel more. Everything hurts. Everything. They’re supersensitive. They see things that other people don’t see. It can be crippling. For someone like Kurt Cobain, it can kill you.
19. Put it this way: I’m open to the truth, whatever it is.
20. If I were to make only rap records or make only heavy metal records, it would really get old fast. I would end up falling into patterns.
21. I was talking to Leonard Cohen and he was saying it takes him typically three years to write a song. And he said that once he was having a conversation with Bob Dylan, comparing songs of each other’s that they liked. And Bob said, “Well, how long did it take to write ‘Hallelujah’?” And Leonard said, “Three years.” And then he asked Bob, “How long did it take you to write ‘I and I’?” And Bob said, “Fifteen minutes.”
22. I try to make criticisms in a very, very specific way. The more specific it is — if someone can really understand where you’re coming from and what you’re suggesting — the more it will actually help them.
23. With many artists, no one around them tells them the truth, so hearing the truth can be actually refreshing.
24. My job has very little to do with music. It has more to do with taste and culture and balance.
25. It’s not fun to be with people who are famous but not talented. The talent is the fun part.
