David Byrne

Deep down, I know I have this intuition or instinct that a lot of creative people have, that their demons are also what make them create. ”

Forces that you might think are utterly unrelated to creativity can have a big impact. Technology, obviously, but environment, too. Even financial structures can affect the actual content of a song. The making of music is profoundly affected by the market. ”

Some folks believe that hardship breeds artistic creativity. I don't buy it. One can put up with poverty for a while when one is young, but it will inevitably wear a person down. ”

PowerPoint may not be of any use for you in a presentation, but it may liberate you in another way, an artistic way. Who knows. ”

I subscribe to the myth that an artist's creativity comes from torment. Once that's fixed, what do you draw on? ”

I meet young people who know me and are familiar with my stuff. They know the package. They might have cherry-picked five or six key tunes. That's how it seems to work. I sometimes wonder if they realise they are not getting the whole context. ”

From what I've heard, Paris did a little bit more prep work as far as making bike lanes and all of that stuff. They really did it properly, which New York is getting to little by little. ”

With pop music, the format dictates the form to a big degree. Just think of the pop single. It has endured as a form even in the download age because bands conform to a strict format, and work, often very productively, within the parameters. ”

Work aside, we come to New York for the possibility of interaction and inspiration. ”

The assumption is that your personal life has to be a mess to create, but how much chaos can you allow in before it takes over? ”