“Art is not creating what’s already been created.“

Bill Burr, WTF with Marc Maron

~ 21:12 mark

Context
Maron and Burr are discussing Burr’s drumming and Burr brings up that he is selling all his John Bonham “fan boy” equipment. And that he’s selling all of it because he had this epiphany while he was playing…

Burr:
And guess what I sounded like?

Maron:
What?

Burr:
Me!

*Maron laughing in the background*

I bought all of that and just like in stand-up, I was like “I’m literally trying to do someone else’s act right now.”

…I’m such a fanboy of the musicians that can sit down at their instrument and play in the moment what they’re feeling and it’s flowing out of them like the way a comic riffs on stage… and the overlap of the two artforms…

Maron:
Having a craft in place to do what you want it to do.
And get out what you want to get out.

Burr:
Yea. There’s those drummers who you’re going to go see who are going to play it the exact same way and I remember I used to love those guys when I was a kid and then I would get upset when the guy changed the solo… but it wasn’t till now that I realized he played it that one way that one time.

And the reason that solo sounded so great was that’s how he felt in that moment and that’s the way it came out and then you know, art is not re-creating what you’ve already created. There’s an artform to that, like some cover bands are amazing, but I don’t want to live in that part of art.