183 Quotes by Andrew Bird

Every time I make a record, it’s kind of like scarification or something. You work 15 hours until you’re stupid. You’re just kind of all jittery.

There’s kind of this unequaled thrill of playing a half-finished song, it’s kind of sense of slight embarrassment; like you’re blushing. I like doing that. I did that with “Eyeoneye” and it was almost a curse on the song for a while; I debuted it when it was half-finished in a very public way.

I didn’t have the patience for the research, or anything like that. I just like how it sets the imagination off. It’s just an area that’s very fertile for great words. Great metaphors, potentially.

I think I’m still a little too intense for my own good sometimes.

I’m just trying to get my body in shape so that I can handle it. It’s a very physically demanding thing. I’ve been doing it for 16 years, so I know what I’m going into now. I’m trying to stay calm and not panic.

I definitely have to give myself permission, like on “Master Swarm,” to rip a lead on that. Just play a violin solo that’s – it’s a bit showoff-y, but it’s fun, so who cares?

The instrumental record is a bit subtler. It’s the kind of stuff on sound check, when I first pick up my violin and start to play, the kind of melodies that just pour out of me. Some of them sound very classical. Some of them sound experimental, polyrhythmic loops that I make.

I really like the sound of analog things where clearly there’s something being touched. You can sense that something is handmade. So much with digital, there’s a disconnect.

If you take a little time, let’s say three weeks off, after recording a song, and you listen to it every other day, you’re just going to know eventually.