You can't be idealistic in this world and not be crazy John Zorn More Quotes by John Zorn More Quotes From John Zorn One thing that I do ask myself when I'm in the creative process is, 'Does the world need this?' John Zorn creative doe needs When I'm writing, sometimes it gets to that place where I feel like the piece is writing itself and I'm trying not to get in the way John Zorn writing trying way I have wit in my work and a sense of humor, but I do not use irony in any way John Zorn humor use way I have no doubts. I know what gets in the way and I know what encourages me to do more work. John Zorn doubt knows way I used to look at composing music as problem solving. But as I get older, it's not about problem solving anymore. There are no solutions, because there are no problems. You just turn the tap and it flows out. John Zorn flow problem looks I create work, and I devote myself to the creative process, and I try to stay pure in that process and be worthy of the messages that I receive. You can't sit down and write 300 compositions in a three-month period and think that you're doing it all by yourself. John Zorn creative writing thinking Eye was a great discovery. He is one of the great vocalists of all time. John Zorn eye time discovery My solo music - I get up onstage, I improvise and it's my improvisation. When I get up onstage with Fred Frith and Mike Patton, then we're improvising together. Then it's not my music; it's our music. John Zorn get-up solo together People sometimes have a very hard time accepting change. John Zorn hard-times sometimes people Classical stuff takes a lot of rehearsal time and preparation, but with stuff that involves improvisation, you can over-rehearse it and it gets stale. You don't want it to be too comfortable. In fact, a good sound check, a good rehearsal usually means a bad performance. John Zorn preparation sound mean I put together the influences of my life in as clear a way as I possibly can, in the same way that Beethoven or Schoenberg or Bach put their influences together. John Zorn together life way Well, in Japan, I have got a group of musicians that I have worked with a lot, that concentrate just on the hardcore stuff, say, that Naked City has been working on. We have like a repertoire of sixty songs now. John Zorn japan cities song That is a lot of the reason I do what I do, to really spread the word and spread information and turn people onto different things they may not be, y'know, aware of. That is what Naked City is certainly about John Zorn cities may people That was my challenge as a composer. Like with anything, to keep yourself interested in doing what you do, you set yourself challenges. So I said, Okay, I'll try to write a hundred tunes in a year. John Zorn challenges writing years And I try to be as diplomatic as I can, but it always ends up being a psychodrama up there on stage. John Zorn stage ends trying I have not practiced saxophone since 1980. I mean, not one note. I do not pick it up in my house, and that's the end of it. John Zorn saxophone house mean I have about two or three people, we don't have an office, we don't even have a dedicated phone line. We do it out of our own homes, and we make it work. John Zorn phones work home I don't play favorites with people. My basic philosophy is that the only way to make the world a better place is by bringing something beautiful to every single person you run into at every moment of the day, so how can you play favorites with somebody? John Zorn running beautiful philosophy You know, when we were kids, we had to go to a theater to see a movie. And then television came in and you had to wait until midnight to see the one you wanted to see. Now, all you've got to do is go to a store and buy it and you can watch it whenever you want! John Zorn midnight waiting kids As soon as you get a certain amount of attention, then everybody kinda wants to start taking pot shots at you. All your old friends that supported you don't support you any more. John Zorn support-you friends attention