Andrew Bird

The first notes I still play when I start a sound check are classical. Those are my roots. ”

I don't write poetry and then strum some chords and then fit the words on top of the chords. ”

Well, my main instrument is violin, but I think of myself as a songwriter who happens to play violin. ”

Music as a social conduit has always been important to me. ”

The idea of writing songs because you're depressed and you need to communicate it somehow, that isn't really true for me. ”

I spend a lot of time working by myself developing songs, but I really need some other counterpart to help me pull it all together, because you go nuts working if I had to finish an entire project all within my own head. ”

Every time I get up in the morning, melodies occur to me and I start trying to shape lyrics to melodies. ”

A day off after a show with no agenda in a foreign city is about the most fertile creative situation I can imagine. Just walking with nothing to do, killing time and hearing the sights and sounds of an unfamiliar place. ”

I don't want technology to take me so far that I don't have to use my brain anymore. It's like GPS taking over and losing your internal compass. It's always got to be tactile, still organic. ”

My favorite literature to read is fairly dry history. I like the framework, and my imagination can do the rest. ”