David Byrne

“It seems almost backwards to me that my music seems the more emotional outlet, and the art stuff seems more about ideas.”

“Punk was defined by an attitude rather than a musical style.”

“It's a fundamental, social attitude that the 1% supports symphonies and operas and doesn't support Johnny learning to program hip-hop beats. When I put it like that, it sounds like, 'Well, yeah,' but you start to think, 'Why not, though?' What makes one more valuable than another?”

“Real beauty knocks you a little bit off kilter.”

“I like to combine the dramatic emotional warmth of strings with the grooves and body business of drums and bass.”

“I do seem to like to combine the dramatic emotional warmth of strings with the grooves and body business of drums and bass.”

“Artists are notoriously snooty and suspicious of anything coming from the business community.”

“I never listen to the radio unless I rent a car.”

“You can know or not know how a car runs and still enjoy riding in a car.”

“I don't listen to the radio very much, but that could be because I don't have a car.”

“There's a certain amount of freedom involved in cycling: you're self-propelled and decide exactly where to go. If you see something that catches your eye to the left, you can veer off there, which isn't so easy in a car, and you can't cover as much ground walking.”

“The true face of smoking is disease, death and horror - not the glamour and sophistication the pushers in the tobacco industry try to portray.”

“I've noticed a lot of younger artists have less fear of doing different sorts of things, whether it's various types of music, or gallery artists moving between video and sculpture and drawing.”

“My favorite time of day is to get up and eat leftovers from dinner, especially spicy food.”

“Why not invest in the future of music, instead of building fortresses to preserve its past?”

“I try to devote my afternoons to making music in my home studio, but it's a lot more fun hanging out with musicians and friends, and trying subtly to influence a band than making your own stuff.”

“Yeah, anybody can go in with two turntables and a microphone or a home studio sampler and a little cassette deck or whatever and make records in their bedrooms.”

“If anything, a lot of electronic music is music that no one listens to at home, hardly. It's really only to be heard when everyone's out enjoying it.”

“Sometimes it's a form of love just to talk to somebody that you have nothing in common with and still be fascinated by their presence.”

“It's not always been a happy marriage. I guess I wanted a quick fix.”

“I don't like begging money from producers.”

“I found music to be the therapy of choice.”

“With music, you often don't have to translate it. It just affects you, and you don't know why.”

“It didn't even occur to me that I'm the last person in the world who should play salsa or Brazilian music.”