If I was a cabinetmaker or a commercial fisherman, it would be the same question - how to connect to my world. The job we do affords us the opportunity to have people listen to what we say. But a lot of people have a similar situation: They're trying to find a way to do some good.

Win Butler

Categorized in : People Trying Opportunity

Being in a rock band, I feel a certain responsibility to have a weird haircut. I mean, who else gets to do that?

rocks responsibility mean

Music is made by individuals. Some artists will be very politically overt in their songs, some will be more subtle. You have to be true to yourself, true to your nature.

be-true-to-yourself artist song

I think of hip hop as a mass media, radio, MTV thing. It’s been extremely relevant over the last 10 years and rock music is just not anymore—-a tear rolls down my cheek as I say that.

rocks media thinking

It would get really alienating, to have my face be the face of a cause. So much just comes down to the songs. I just want to give us the opportunity to write great songs. Even our work in Haiti is limited by how good our songs are. We just need to get rid of as much of the bullshit as possible, so we can have a life, so we have something to write about.

writing opportunity song

The idea of dancing to bad house music is something I could never... by Win Butler

The idea of dancing to bad house music is something I could never get behind.

dancing house ideas

A lot of artists write about the same things their whole career. by Win Butler

A lot of artists write about the same things their whole career.

careers artist writing

What I miss [about church] is being forced to be in community with people that aren't the same as me.

community missing people

Whenever you do anything or say anything, you're opening yourself... by Win Butler

Whenever you do anything or say anything, you're opening yourself up to criticism. But that's okay.

okay criticism say-anything

The Flaming Lips have been on Warner Bros. forever, and certainly everything I heard growing up was on a major label in some way, from the Cure to Radiohead to Bjork.

growing-up labels forever

While there are so many beautiful Baroque churches and it's a beautiful artistic tradition, it almost gets hideous and grotesque if you push it further. You can take something beautiful and overdo it.

artistic church beautiful

I just wanted to make something in the world and worry about the rest of it later and not get too caught up in rules.

caught worry world

Years ago, in order to stay sane, I had to really make an effort not to think about how people view us. There's just so much noise, positive and negative, and not much good comes out of thinking about it.

effort people thinking

I try not get too self-aware when writing lyrics. by Win Butler

I try not get too self-aware when writing lyrics.

self writing trying

I think you have to want to be really famous. It's a lot easier to sabotage your career than to have a career to sabotage.

careers want thinking

My favorite English teacher in high school showed me 'Brazil' when I was 15 and it blew my mind. It's one of those movies that's revealed itself in different ways as I've gone back to it over the years.

teacher years school

When I was younger, bands helped me connect to part of my humanity; bands that had nothing to do with anything political helped to form me. There's a correlation in that: If people can connect to music, maybe they can connect to each other.

political humanity people

I think filmmakers all secretly wanna be musicians and all musici... by Win Butler

I think filmmakers all secretly wanna be musicians and all musicians secretly wanna be filmmakers.

filmmaker musician thinking

I find myself a lot more open to bands if I just hear their song. It gives you an opportunity to engage with the thing itself and not be overwhelmed by everything else that surrounds it.

opportunity song giving

Once I got to know what's been happening historically, it's pretty impossible to un-know it. Like right now, there's the outbreak of cholera in Haiti, and people see that as a news headline, but I know there's half a billion dollars of aid that one senator is putting a hold on, that the Red Cross has raised half a billion dollars but has only spent $200 million.

aids impossible people

Songwriting is reliant on inspiration, which ideally you don't have that much control over. Songs kind of half make themselves, and then you have to finish them.

inspiration half song