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I actually want to write a treatise in defence of pretension. I think the word 'pretension' has become like the word 'ironic' - just this catch-all term to distance people from interesting experiences and cultural engagement and possible embarrassment.
James Murphy -
Ad Rock from the Beastie Boys gave me a present: it's a boombox with a keyboard and a beatbox in it. You can't make that up.
James Murphy
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I moved to New York in 1989 and went to study at NYU.
James Murphy -
I'm really focused and obsessed with writing things that are specific. I don't like big rock lyrics - I find them infuriating.
James Murphy -
I know it seems like LCD Soundsystem sold millions and millions of records, but we didn't. I'm not a wealthy person.
James Murphy -
I don't drink beer, and I don't drink at home.
James Murphy -
'Somebody's Calling Me' was written in my sleep, and the original was just the piano and the beat and the singing.
James Murphy -
My gut instincts are strong, but they're not always accessible to me, which is why I like DJing, because you don't have time, and you have to go on instinct.
James Murphy
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I wouldn't say I'm a friend of David Byrne, but I guess I'm an acquaintance. I'm obviously an admirer, and we've met, but we don't call and chat about 'Breaking Bad' or anything.
James Murphy -
I've watched too many artists in my life forget how good the things they used to do were.
James Murphy -
I'm basically a schlub.
James Murphy -
Punk rock, to me, was always outsiderness. When I first saw large-group-scene punk rock, I was repelled by it, because there were way too many people who agreed with each other.
James Murphy -
I'm always surprised by how optimistic and open sometimes people who are very successful are.
James Murphy -
LCD is a band about a band writing music about writing music.
James Murphy
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I actually really love people.
James Murphy -
I can be staggeringly evangelical. That's just my personality.
James Murphy -
I always wished I had a more flamboyant streak, but it's just not what I'm made of.
James Murphy -
I don't think I've ever made a claim to startling originality.
James Murphy -
DJing is really, really pleasant. It's like having people over and making hors d'oeuvres.
James Murphy -
Producing is always really hard, and you can never tell who's going to be easy to get along with and who's going to be difficult.
James Murphy
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I don't want to be subsumed into popular culture and played on the radio next to some garbage music.
James Murphy -
With a computer, you have access to so many drum sounds and samples that your snare drum will be unrelated harmonically to your kick drum.
James Murphy -
I was a singing guitar player as a kid, and I found it really embarrassing, so I stopped singing and became a drummer.
James Murphy -
When I want to DJ what I think to be the best-sounding place in the world, I go to this place in Sapporo, Japan, called Precious Hall, which has kind of a custom sound system with a much lower ceiling and a smaller room.
James Murphy