Tom Scholz Quotes

United States, Musician
March 10, 1947

Donald Thomas Scholz (born March 10, 1947) is an American rock musician, songwriter, inventor, engineer, and philanthropist, best known as the founder of the band Boston. He is also the inventor of the Rockman portable guitar amplifier. He has been described by Allmusic as "a notoriously 'un-rock n' roll' figure who never enjoyed the limelight of being a performer," preferring to concentrate almost exclusively on his music, and in more recent years, spending much of his time working with charities.

Also known as Songwriter, Inventor, Engineer, Philanthropist

No one was more surprised that that first Boston record took off than the record company itself.

Tom Scholz Boston
I don't like the idea of having to reproduce a recorded song live that I sing. I have enough to do on stage. I'm really busy up there, and I'm really busy with everything I have to do for every show. Add having to worry about my voice and singing lead on a song or two, that's not something I necessarily want to do.

Tom Scholz Boston
- Up
- Live
- Song

'Higher Power' was the result of a personal experience: a friend of mine who went through the process of addiction and recovery. It's a very, very tough thing - very easy to become addicted and very, very hard to become a recovering addict.

Tom Scholz Boston
- Experience
- Power
- Friend
The problem is that once I start on a song and get a rough idea of where I might go with an arrangement, I try dozens, sometimes hundreds, of different things on a song. The bass, the backing guitars, the lead guitars, the keyboards. It's a long process. It's like 100 steps forward and 99 steps back.

Tom Scholz Boston
- Different
- Long
- Song
The one thing I will say for digital, and you won't hear me say that many complimentary things about it, is that it's cheap. It pretty much enables anybody to record as long as you can deal with the sound.

Tom Scholz Boston
- Long
- Pretty
I'm a huge fan of Joe Walsh and a big James Gang fan. A lot of what I know about playing the guitar I learned from listening to him.

Tom Scholz Boston
- Listening
- Gang
I detest computers. If you had a device like that 30 years ago that froze up constantly, misbehaved constantly, lost your information and screwed up when you needed it the most, it would have been laughable.

Tom Scholz Boston
- Up
- Lost
Everybody's seen a stream or a wood they knew replaced by a strip mall.

Tom Scholz Boston

Playing live was always definitely a lot more fun. You picture it: working alone in the studio eight or 10 hours a day with nobody else there, being frustrated and driven crazy by all of the things that you have to deal with, vs. thousands of people screaming and singing along with you playing.

Tom Scholz Boston
- People
- Live
- Fun
I don't plan tours necessarily around records. I know that's what most people do.

Tom Scholz Boston
- People
Trying to get my music performed live by bar bands was a self defeating experience. It really just distracted me from what I should've been doing all along, writing and recording.

Tom Scholz Boston
- Music
- Writing
- Live
I've sort of decided that I can settle for being just the artist, arranger, writer and part-time engineer. That seems like enough to do.

Tom Scholz Boston
- Time