You don’t have to say something directly to affect …– El-P
You don’t have to say something directly to affect someone. You can make a piece of music without words that can capture a feeling of tragedy or struggle or anger or triumph. It’s the translation of the human experience into another form.
I’m of the generation that discovered Aerosmith …– El-P
I’m of the generation that discovered Aerosmith because of Run-DMC. They just looked crazy to me. They were the dudes in the Run-DMC video. That’s who Aerosmith was.
If you live in a crowded area of Brooklyn or …– El-P
If you live in a crowded area of Brooklyn or Manhattan, having a car is a hindrance. It doesn’t even make sense. I basically grew up all my life without a car.
My videogame mind died after they stopped making …– El-P
My videogame mind died after they stopped making wonderful escape worlds – every game just turned into me training to be in the army. But I used to love the Oddworld and ‘Abe’s Exoddus’ and ‘Abe’s Oddysee’ for Playstation.
How could you possibly call something science …– El-P
How could you possibly call something science fiction at this point unless it has to do with something that hasn’t been done? When I write about ‘Drones over Brooklyn,’ it’s not like I’m making something up. Drones are policing American cities.
I’ve never had a huge collection of records; I’ve …– El-P
I’ve never had a huge collection of records; I’ve never been a beat digga. I never been one of these guys who drives cross-country and knows some one-legged sailor who has a boat parked off some pier with a thousand Russian funk records that he stole from the Red Army in 1972.
I really am not interested in making political …– El-P
I really am not interested in making political music per se. I’m making personal records, but at the same time, I’m very much aware of my surroundings. And those surroundings, what’s going on in the larger picture, affects my everyday life and affects the way that I think.
I’ve lived in New York City all my life…– El-P
I’ve lived in New York City all my life. I love New York City; I’ve never moved from New York City. Have I ever thought about moving out of New York? Yeah, sure. I need about $10 million to do it right, though.
We all want recognition and validation to an …– El-P
We all want recognition and validation to an extent for our art, but greatness as a trade for decency is a risky proposition. In my life, I try to leave the people I encounter with the feeling that they have been respected and treated with warmth and appreciation.
I’m really pretty ridiculous about how much I work …– El-P
I’m really pretty ridiculous about how much I work on my music, and I don’t look at it as necessarily a good quality. I look at it as a side effect of my apparent insanity. It is what it is, man.