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I was definitely inspired by gospel music, or old-school R&B; I got into some Good God gospel compilations.
Yannis Philippakis -
I started growing roses. I enjoyed the craft of it and that they're difficult to look after; they can provide joy.
Yannis Philippakis
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When you're making an album with people who made your favorite records as a rebellious teenager, it feels like you've achieved something.
Yannis Philippakis -
I'm appalled by the tendency of some rock records to perfect everything to the point where it sounds like Botox and polish it so heavily that there's no humanity left in it.
Yannis Philippakis -
By the time you finish touring the record, everything that's exciting to me is what's ahead of me. I want to write the next paragraph.
Yannis Philippakis -
I like simple writing. I'd rather read Hemingway than Burroughs.
Yannis Philippakis -
I'm definitely preoccupied by thinking I'm just a biological thing. I want to feel that there's more, but so often I'm reminded of how we're just like baboons, basically.
Yannis Philippakis -
I like the fervor of religious music, the zealous aspect - that preachers can go from a conversational cadence into this passionate singing.
Yannis Philippakis
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Music was my friend when I was a teenager, and I would inhabit and take comfort in lyrics. That's how I want to write.
Yannis Philippakis -
You can get into a comfort zone writing lyrics, like wearing a mask. But I wanted to feel uncomfortable when I was listening back to the lyrics; I wanted to squirm.
Yannis Philippakis -
I'm just worn down and weary of bands whose lyrics are cryptic and self-referential.
Yannis Philippakis -
I never want to listen to the songs in front of people close to me. There's an emotional honesty in that place where it's not earnest but it's vulnerable.
Yannis Philippakis