Musician

I know all my different formulas to get certain sounds. I've been doing this so long that I don't experiment anymore. Or let me rephrase: I've been doing this so long that I don't have to experiment as much. You always want to evolve and change, but if I go in and I know it's a certain type of song, I know exactly where I'm going to place the mics.

I always compare myself to what I did last, so I've got to try and beat what I did last. I'm always upping my own bar.

It's the ownership of what's off that's the beauty in art. Its not about being exactly perfect.

To me, recording with live instruments and tape takes things back to an older sound that I like but that's still fresh.

I want listeners to feel as though they went through an experience.

It's the ownership of what's off that's the beauty in art. Its not about being exactly perfect.

When you get older, you try to get what you wanted as a kid. Maybe you wanted an arcade in your house or Q-Tip rapping on your beats.

We love high-end art, but when you're looking at high-end art in music, a lot of the time, it's appreciated academically, but you can't feel it as much.

A lot of Ennio Morricone's music is just - it's very soulful, very cinematic, and very psychedelic.

Basically, if you work hard and practice an instrument every day, you'll learn how to play like a professional. You'll get better and better each day. And that's how it works for me. I wasn't magically inclined to play. I had to keep practicing and practicing to train my fingers.

I always say to people that I left hip-hop in '97, meaning that I departed from listening to predominately hip-hop and just started really getting into records from the late '60s, early '70s. And once I made that change, I realized how much great music was made back in the day, and it started to become apparent how much we've lost in music.

I don't do anything digital. Everything is analog, and that's a limitation for me. However, in my world, it's not a limitation at all because I don't create the type of music that would generally be created by musicians that work with digital recording studios, and/or digital equipment, as far as production is concerned.

I grew up, and I'm getting the chance to make music with the people I idolized.

I tell people, 'I don't make music, I make worlds.'

When you're recording live, really good vintage instruments onto two-inch tape, it's the best fidelity you can get.

I was really raised on hip-hop, and hip-hop introduced me basically to all the music I listen to now.

Change the sound. Make people rethink what they're doing. That's what I really wanna do.

I'm the black dude that loves old black culture. I also love old white culture. I just love history, but I'm the guy that wants to bring things back and push them forward.

When I did 'Venice Dawn,' there were times where people would cry after listening to it.

I'm a huge Stereolab fan.