Brendan Benson Quotes

The movie industry places such importance on first-week numbers-which means what to people, I don't know. It's very strange. They hope to sell tons of records the first week, and then what?

There's something about working in adverse conditions. It keeps it interesting. I always notice if I ever sit down with a pen and piece of paper and a guitar, and I have a beverage and an ashtray and I'm comfortable on the couch, I fall asleep.

Being a part of a band is easier to brainstorm, and it's fun - you're encouraged and inspired by the others. In this band, it's especially that way for me, because they're my favorite musicians - they've been my favorite musicians for so long, and I get to play with them now. A lot of times onstage, I'm overcome with admiration or something, which also means that you need to step up, you need to really bear down to match the level of musicianship or artistry. It's really challenging.

Not only are we not using any programmed loops or computers onstage, we're also improvising with our instruments. We're playing our instruments probably more so than most people that I see play their instruments. I think we all sort of strive for that - we all want magical things to happen onstage. We don't say "mistakes" in this band, we call them "highlights."

There's a combination of things [to survive the road trip]. Humor would be key. If everyone has relatively the same sense of humor, then that helps. And things in common, like food, eating.

I've always been jealous of people who can tell stories really well in a room with a bunch of people. I've never been good at it because I'm not cocky enough to be like, "Okay, everyone, listen right now to this. I'm going to blow your minds with this joke."

Who am I to stop everybody just to tell my stupid story? It's presumptuous.