M. Ward Quotes
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It's a luxury to not have to just be performing with other people to have my music heard.
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I get most of my inspiration from older records. Most of the records that I listen to were probably made before I was born, and I was born in the mid-'70s. I don't know why, exactly, I'm drawn to those sounds.
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The songwriting style, to me, is superior... there was a certain amount of joy in it, no matter how sad the song is. You get joy in listening to these Buddy Holly or Roy Orbison sad lyrics. I'm attracted to songs that have balance between the darks and the lights and giving them all equal opportunity.
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I wouldn't want to cover a Hank Williams song in a country-western way. It doesn't occur to me instinctually to re-create productions. I'm interested in re-creating songs. Putting different clothes on them.
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I'm somebody who gets a lot of inspiration from dreams.
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I find that the time that goes by is actually your best friend when you are making a record. The passing of time gives you perspective on what you recorded and what you wrote. If something sounds good to you 12 months after you recorded it then chances are pretty good that there's something valuable about the part or the song.
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As a producer, I like to bring in unexpected voices, unexpected musicians, like Watt and Joey Spampinato of NRBQ.
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The South of France is one of my favorite places in the world.
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I love the idea that I planned my career. I did not. It started out by getting invitations from artists that I really love and respect, to share a stage... I've been very lucky in that I haven't had to create a five-year plan. It's evolved.
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My grandparents are from Mexico, so I grew up with great Mexican food.
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It's no fun for me to cover a song and produce it the exact same way as it already exists. When I hear that happening, I have to say, 'What's the point?'
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I always prefer other people's interpretations over my own, so I'm not very quick to make explicit what exactly a song or record is about.
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I learned a long time ago that fame and money is not a ticket to happiness.
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The best live recordings capture elements of surprise onstage.
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I have a very strong belief in God.
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I don't like the way recording to digital sounds. Most of the time, when I'm recording to two-inch tape, I still have a romantic vision of how songs sounded coming out of the radio when I was younger, and how they sounded coming out of my little four-track cassette player.
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I get most of my inspiration from older records and older production styles, and that ends up rearing its head in the records that I make.
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When you work on a record for three years, it's a great sense of relief when it is finally out in the world. It just feels good.
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I've worked with just as many talented women as I have talented men, and I feel fortunate enough to have that great balance.
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I love the sound of Elmore James, the sound early guitarists like him got just by using minimal means.
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Even though someone has died, a piece of their spirit can still be alive. That's an exciting world for me to take music into, or to attempt to do that.
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Certain things you have to stumble on to. They can't be preprogrammed.
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I got this Christmas gift with the entire Beatles catalog. I had fun trying to duplicate what I was hearing on these records, only using the instruments I had at hand - an acoustic guitar, and that's all. It was endlessly amusing to me to try to imitate John Lennon and Paul McCartney's harmonies using the guitar.
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I don't really watch TV series because I don't want to get hooked on them and have them suck up all my time.