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. Win Butler More Quotes by Win Butler More Quotes From Win Butler Being in a rock band, I feel a certain responsibility to have a weird haircut. I mean, who else gets to do that? Win Butler rocksresponsibilitymean 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. Win Butler be-true-to-yourselfartistsong 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. Win Butler rocksmediathinking 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. Win Butler writingopportunitysong The idea of dancing to bad house music is something I could never get behind. Win Butler dancinghouseideas A lot of artists write about the same things their whole career. Win Butler careersartistwriting What I miss [about church] is being forced to be in community with people that aren't the same as me. Win Butler communitymissingpeople Whenever you do anything or say anything, you're opening yourself up to criticism. But that's okay. Win Butler okaycriticismsay-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. Win Butler growing-uplabelsforever 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. Win Butler artisticchurchbeautiful 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. Win Butler caughtworryworld I try not get too self-aware when writing lyrics. Win Butler selfwritingtrying 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. Win Butler careerswantthinking 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. Win Butler teacheryearsschool 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 opportunitytryingpeople 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. Win Butler politicalhumanitypeople I think filmmakers all secretly wanna be musicians and all musicians secretly wanna be filmmakers. Win Butler filmmakermusicianthinking 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. Win Butler opportunitysonggiving 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. Win Butler aidsimpossiblepeople 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. Win Butler inspirationhalfsong
