ISM’S TO LIVE BY
Fatima Al Qadiri
“I believe in djinns,” says Fatima Al Qadiri. “I believe in evil spirits that haunt the earth. I don’t smell...
Bjork
“When I was a punk teenager, I rebelled because lots of people in Iceland think that foreigners are evil and...
Grand Master Flash
“My father was my first inspiration. He had an incredible stereo and a turntable, and I was told not to touch it. But I’d go back and touch it anyway. I gained a respect for the turntables when I was...
Jenny Lee Lindberg
“Everyone’s trying to survive. Even famous people… They’re just at home making toast. Everyone shits, everyone pees, but people lose...
Imogen Heap
“Leaving the record companies tweaked something inside me and I realized I don’t have to deal with labels to make...
Brian Eno
“When governments rely increasingly on sophisticated public relations agencies, public debate disappears and is replaced by competing propaganda campaigns, with all the accompanying deceits. Advertising isn’t about truth or fairness or rationality, but about mobilizing deeper and more primitive layers...
Damian Marley
“I record all night and sleep all day. It started because you’re excited about the music and you want to...
Nina Simone
“There’s no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were.” –Nina Simone...
Sofia Coppola
“It seems that the greatest difficulty is to find the end. Don’t try to find it, it’s there already there.” – Sofia Coppola...
Muhammad Ali
“What’s really hurting me – the name Islam is involved, and Muslim is involved and causing trouble and starting hate...
Conor Oberst
“There’s a store in Omaha called the Antiquarium. It was an amazing place. The top two floors used to he...
David Lynch
“Sex is a doorway to something so powerful and mystical, but movies usually depict it in a completely flat way.”–David Lynch...
Curtis Mayfield
“With all respect, I’m sure that we have enough preachers in the world. Through my way of writing, I was...
St. Vincent
“I guess trying to throw my body into the guitar is so natural for me that I don’t even know...
Marina Abramovic
“The function of the artist in a disturbed society is to give awareness of the universe, to ask the right questions, and to elevate the mind.”– Marina Abramovic...
Jonny Greenwood
“It feels like Radiohead are famous, but that no one knows who we are. Which is brilliant, really.”–Jonny Greenwood ...
Phife Dawg
“A Tribe Called Quests was one of those things that was supposed to be about growth. When I say “growth”...
FKA twigs
“I love my music, so I want to produce, write, and serve my music. I’ve had to learn about EQ frequencies and programming and space and clutter and how to be a better piano or bass player – everything.”–FKA twigs...
Sia Furler
“A lot of people come up to me expecting to meet the person they have seen perform. It’s not going...
Moses Sumney
“Solange is very, very chill. She’s just so real, so human. Karen O, who I toured with last fall, is this badass persona on stage—and she is a badass—but in person she’s very quiet and shy and soft spoken. You...
Kazu Makino (Blonde Redhead)
“We bring all of our gear—we don’t rent anything on tour. No matter where it is, we have to come...
Stevie Wonder
“Music, at its essence, is what gives us memories. And the longer a song has existed in our lives, the...
Talib Kweli
“What’s more condescending and corny than someone telling you how much more money they have than you and telling you basically, ‘I don’t care about poor people,’ which is a large part of what you hear of corporate hip-hop on...