John Densmore Quotes

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John Densmore

Profession : Musician

Birth : December 1, 1944

When I do a press roll, I use the traditional grip. Sometimes I flip it around; for a louder crack on the two and four, I use the new grip.

John Densmore

You know, another jazz drummer, Ed Thigpen, who played with Oscar Peterson way back - it was the first time I ever heard rivets in a cymbal. And then I heard that Chico Hamilton had them too, and I went, 'Oh, that's it. I'm taking that for my sound.' And it worked well on 'Riders On The Storm,' so that's one thing.

John Densmore

At the risk of sounding grandiose, I will say that, to me, rock 'n' roll is sacred.

John Densmore

One has to be always be on guard, because mega-success comes up behind you when you're high from all the attention, and sucks the vitality out of one's creativity.

John Densmore

In my old age, I've learned that if I put the right cymbal crash in the very right spot, exactly, it can be as powerful as all my showoff drum rolls in my 20s.

John Densmore

I'm not the fastest drummer in the world, but I'm very into dynamics and knowing that there's space in between the notes and you got to breathe.

John Densmore

You hear a Willie Nelson solo, he doesn't play real fast, but it's so melodic and beautiful. It's kind of, to be human is to have space and not show all your stuff all the time.

John Densmore

We knew we were tight and good, but we didn't know we were going to be the band to help each generation cut its umbilical cord.

John Densmore

I'm not against a new band doing commercials to pay the rent.

John Densmore

Jim Morrison wrote the words for 'Hello, I Love You' when we were still in a band called Rick & the Ravens.

John Densmore

Jim was Dionysus, but it took three Apollos to balance that Dionysian energy. He was a force.

John Densmore

Ray grew up in Chicago so he had the blues, Muddy Waters and all that. He also had classical training. That was pretty cool. That was invoked in the intro to 'Light My Fire,' which was very kind of Bach-like.

John Densmore

Robby had a flamenco and folk music background. I was so enamored with watching Robby's fingers crawl across the flamenco guitar strings like a crab.

John Densmore

Jim had melodies as well as words. He didn't know how to play a chord on any instrument, but he had melodies in his head. To remember the lyrics he would think of melodies and then they would stay in his head. He had melodies and lyrics in his head, and he would sing them a cappella, and we would eke out the arrangements.

John Densmore

Echo & the Bunnymen just copied 'People Are Strange,' which is cool, we made some money, thanks. But when an artist finds a new interpretation of one of your songs, that's great. It turns your head around.

John Densmore

When I was 15, we settled in Santa Monica, in a beige suburban ranch house. By then, my father, Ray, was an architect at Welton Becket's firm. He was handy with a pencil and pen. His figurative drawings were very good, and his talent was intimidating.

John Densmore

My mom, Peggy, was a free spirit. She loved music and liked to paint. She had received her degree from Chouinard Art Institute in L.A.

John Densmore

I grew up listening to my parents' albums. Many of them were either classical - Bach, Beethoven and Brahms - or easy listening, like Mantovani. I loved the spectrum of emotions in classical music, from fortissimo to pianissimo. My early passion for classical made my drumming more musical later on.

John Densmore

I still think that if one of Jim's masterpieces were downgraded to sell crap, I would get sick.

John Densmore

For us, anyone can record our songs. Anyone can cover our songs.

John Densmore