Carter Burwell Quotes

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Carter Burwell

Profession : Composer

Birth : November 19, 1955

I'm one of those people who is actually inspired by a deadline. I might not sleep for many days on end, it may not be good for my health, but it definitely helps.

Carter Burwell

In mainstream romantic comedies, I'm usually tearing my hair out. It's just a devastatingly difficult genre for me.

Carter Burwell

I think I've only done one horror movie, Psycho III. That was a walk in the park compared to a romantic comedy.

Carter Burwell

Any film which views the darker side of life, which is death with a sense of humor, is very much to my taste.

Carter Burwell

Death is always around the corner, but often our society gives it inordinate help.

Carter Burwell

Conducting, I tried it once off the cuff, and quickly realized there were subtle aspects that I was missing. There is a lot more to it that I was able to grasp simply by watching conductors.

Carter Burwell

I don't personally see my work as being dark. What interests me is a balance between light and dark.

Carter Burwell

I think being a little nuts is helpful.

Carter Burwell

The flow of Guiness into the studio was inspirational as well as nutritive.

Carter Burwell

I prefer a life in which we don't take ourselves too seriously.

Carter Burwell

Hopefully each film can be given a musical voice of its own, which is not to say that the instrumentation is always unique, but that the relationship between the sound and the image is unique.

Carter Burwell

I don't find myself lobbying for projects. Filmmakers almost always come to me.

Carter Burwell

On Being John Malkovich and the cinema of the absurd, I do enjoy it. I wish there were more like it. The very fact that there can't be more like it is one of the reasons it's admirable.

Carter Burwell

When the systems we expect to help us actually hurt us, we have tragedy.

Carter Burwell

If not bliss, ignorance can at least be fun.

Carter Burwell

I like business and personal life to be distinct.

Carter Burwell

Los Angeles is an industry town, and it has great facilities and personnel. The disadvantage is that everyone there seems to talk about the same subject matter.

Carter Burwell

I like the fact that New York looks a bit backwards, toward the Old World, rather than resolutely forwards.

Carter Burwell

New Yorkers may think they're on some cutting edge, but that's not especially true. It is, however, the most exciting heterogeneous mess of a town I've ever seen.

Carter Burwell

John Barry was the first film composer I was aware of. As a teenager I owned several of his Bond soundtracks.

Carter Burwell