Cliff Martinez Quotes
-
Singer/songwriters spend two or three years making an album, and then it goes up for sale and everybody pirates it and you don't make any money. Whereas, writing a film score you still get presented with a paycheck.
-
Censorship has kind of disappeared in a way because everything is accessible online.
-
The more I come to understand music, the more I feel like a numbskull because there is always more to learn.
-
I live in Topanga Canyon, which is like a faux-rustic enclave in Los Angeles. I love the sounds of all the critters outside - the frogs, owls, crickets, and birds. Some of the birds around here are pretty accomplished musicians. You can learn a lot from them.
-
Composers are in some ways the last frontier of musician that gets a paycheck for their musical services.
-
I work at home but average 15,000 to 18,000 miles per year on my Honda.
-
I guess what I've learned is that there are no boundaries when it comes to imagination. It's limitless.
-
If I had kids, I don't think I would recommend they pursue a career in music.
-
I don't want to be typecast as the 'ambient guy' or someone who only does electronic scores. I think most of the work that comes my way is because people feel they know me musically.
-
When you've finished the film and everybody's already made back all their money, everybody just leaves you alone and I'm very happy. That's what it has to be like.
-
I think music will be created algorhythmically, all the things that we do will be boiled down to a little computer program.
-
The more I come to understand music, the more I feel like a numbskull because there is always more to learn. The more I do it, the more I'm humbled. I'm just always trying to get better at it. I pick up a few tricks along the way.
-
I guess I'd like to have my cake and eat it, too. I want to be known for having a recognizable style. I believe having your own personal identity is what makes you competitive. On the other hand, I would like to be versatile and be challenged to go in new directions.
-
For me, the work begins with a rough cut of the film. I can't do much with the script. I've tried to write music to a script prior to seeing the film, but I've found it turns out to be a waste of time.
-
The way that I make films is that I sit down and I think, "How much money could I get with less consequences?" And that's how I start. I'd rather have less money and total autonomy than more money and start having to answer to things, because then I'm not being true and the money men are not being true.
-
I actually don't see that strong of a connection between my background as a rock 'n roller and my early films. In a way I think your musical identity in film work is determined by the jobs that come your way.
-
I'm kind of an antisocial person. I realised when I was playing in bands that I wasn't that comfortable being on-stage, and I preferred to be behind-the-scenes. I like the seclusion of composing.
-
I know so few people who actually give music their undivided attention, so I've been trying to just park myself on the couch between the speakers and listen.
-
I was in the Chilli Peppers at the time and I asked myself, would I be able to wear a sock on my genitals at the age of forty and they proved me wrong because I guess they're still doing it.
-
I'm free to make music - I'm sitting on about 40 or 45 new songs that I can't wait to put out.
-
It's very important that you never depend on money to fulfill your creative vision. If you do that, you're doomed to fail.
-
I don't like to write any music to a script. Experience has taught me that's generally a waste of time.
-
I'm not sure why anybody makes a physical CD anymore when the costs are so much lower to just throw it up on iTunes. And it doesn't seem that making a hard copy of something prevents pirating any less. I mean I'm amazed that they still do that.
-
Composing demands a degree of isolation.