Ezra Furman Quotes
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We take a lot of inspiration from punk rock and early rock 'n' roll from the '50s and early '60s.
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I first got into music when I heard punk, and it was saying maybe it's OK if you don't live up to the expectations various authorities have for you.
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I'm a big fan of Louis CK - I think he's a master of standup.
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It's a good feeling to not tell people what's going on.
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If I can see the sunrise - and I usually don't - I like to. I'm a big fan of the sun.
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More visibility is more power, but more vulnerability.
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I am frustrated at misconceptions of me, and being cast in a role.
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A lot of bands break through with their third record: the White Stripes, the Clash, the Replacements.
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I don't like the notion that artists have a responsibility to be political.
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I believe an authentic Judaism would legislate total equality for queer people.
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I always maintain that artists do not have any responsibility to do anything except cause no harm and do whatever we want to do as artists.
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I could write a joke song really easily, but I think something that might be true for my generation is that there's a certain irony or detachedness expected of us, even though we really feel sincere. So the only way to sincerity is through a joke.
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People get stigmatised for their bodies and for their differences. Then those people become very vulnerable.
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Once you admit how bad it feels to live in a broken society, you can start to resist it, and imagine a better one.
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Jews like to write and sing. In America, a lot of us have been eager to show that we're part of American culture. But it all goes back to King David writing Psalms.
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If you're trying to deal with being a marginalized person and trying to confront a larger population that isn't the same as you, you can be friendly about it, and invite everybody in, or you can be angry about it and be hostile and attack the systems that you want to destabilize.
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I think I'm gradually becoming a more politically aware person.
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I grew up attending a Conservative day school, Solomon Schechter, until I was about 14, and going to a Reconstructionist synagogue.
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Judaism is a way of thinking, more than anything else, that I think is entirely distinct, and the more you know of it, the more you can enter into that kind of thinking.
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I think of myself as someone who's trying to be a great songwriter and a great performer. And I mean really great.
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Desperate times make for desperate songs.
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I want to make the greatest record ever made. It's the only thing I can think about.
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The first music I loved on my own was punk.
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I thought as a kid, "Maybe I don't want to start a punk band necessarily. I just want to learn to be a great songwriter," and got really into trying to figure out how that could be possible.