Mike Gordon Quotes (41 Quotes)


    I like to be sort of grounded with Fish. But, at the same time, I think probably what's unique about us is the way other dynamics happen, where I'll play off Trey for awhile. When we start playing a jam, I don't usually know what's going to happen, I don't have a plan.

    You've got have someone on your team that's willing to throw their body around. The crowd out here goes crazy when they see people doing that.

    That's why you play the whole game. Any team can make a run at any time.

    If part of the purpose of making an album is to get some radio play, then you might as well think about that. But that's not really how we picked the songs.

    Travelling to different countries is a goal. I wouldn't mind playing huge places if we got an opportunity to, but it's nice to play small places too. Fish was saying yesterday that he doesn't ever want to play stadiums, or maybe he would once, he said.


    I like referring to the saxophone and having a guitar lick instead. Same with the cymbals having the cymbals and not playing cymbals.

    I'm always interested in mixing technology and music. You know, maybe I'll have a MIDI bass pickup at some point, I don't really think that's the direction I would want to go.

    The worst thing I could be thinking is how could I be a cool bass player.

    I'm not really satisfied with anything I have written to date.

    I built all the speaker cabinets myself.

    It does make sense to put on some songs that are relatively short, because radio usually only plays songs that are less than 4 or 5 minutes.

    I'm not really allowed to talk about the Dead though. I think when we are at our best, we definitely do things that the Dead or no other band could do. We explore things and take things to the extreme.

    This is my second bass that Paul built me. There were some changes that were made. Sometimes I think of changes that could be made having to do with both the sound and the feel. It's definitely a beautiful instrument.

    Elektra has no control over the live show, at least.

    A lot of the great songwriters in history have been collaborators, with a separate lyricist.

    I want to take some jams and really concentrate on hooking up with Page because, since he's the only one not next to me, and his sound is mainly coming from my monitor rather than through the air, it's a little harder for me to hook up with him.

    Actually, it's great to play with someone who tries to come up with interesting drum beats because it pushes the music in different directions.

    Last tour my bass rig was breaking down every other night. That was a pain. We would get on stage and Trey would count off the song, and I'd play the first note and nothing would be there. Those guys would just roll their eyes.

    It's like he's a key that gets in there and unlocks part of my playing or sensibility as a musician that is there all the time but it's locked up. Just the fact that he's willing to do the whole collaboration with me amazes me. He's so content. He's got such great fans when he's by himself.

    We have to be great defensively. At any given time, shots can stop falling.


    The way that we imitate each others' riffs is something that other bands don't do as much. If we're jamming with a jazz band, or I am jamming with a jazz band, I have to catch myself, the tendency is always to do that.

    Were playing as a team and that makes it fun for everyone. Its a great group of kids. They listen and work hard.

    Terry is a very experienced arts manager and very well educated. He's got a great record at the institutions he was at before. He's a very solid individual. He has a great vision of where the arts should be and what role the arts should play in the community.

    I know in an earlier version he said there was one song that features my bass and guitar. It made him cry every time he heard it not necessarily because of missing me, but because it was a successful little jam. That was going to be on the album, but I think that may have been several albums ago.

    I don't really have a favorite bass player. I listen to a lot of bluegrass. But then again, I'm not a typical bluegrass bass player. I was really into the Grateful Dead, and I still am - I don't listen to them too much, but for me they are a big influence.

    There's no way we could play a country song as well as a country band or a Latin song as well as a Latin band. We could never expect to do that. We just keep doing what we do, what we know how to do. We sound like ourselves.

    It's really important for the bass and the drums to somehow blend.

    It's not often that we learn cover songs.

    Actually Fish and I had this side band that played a lot of Dead covers and stuff, called the Dangerous Grapes. Also Allmans, typical blues stuff.

    I agree with the rest of the band, that a truly synthesized sound isn't really what I would want to go for.

    I haven't written enough songs to be able to say that I have a system. I've only written a handful.

    I think one thing that helped the sound change, it's a real subtle thing; it's just one switch on my bass, it has three positions, and I usually boost the mid-range frequency, I lowered the frequency that I boost, and that goes out to the sound system, too.

    As long as we keep learning new music and getting better musically, there's a good chance that the record deal won't change anything.

    Point guard is my natural position. I don't have to worry about scoring as much. It's more of a leadership role, communicating with my team and getting guys the ball where they need it to make plays.

    I guess there are two things that make me like songs generally, of ours, and that is if they groove well, or if they have a jam that can go somewhere.

    He did not go to class today. There were never any plans to actually.

    I feel like I want to write some songs and I don't know how to go about doing it. Usually it's the lyrics that are a problem, and I think I am not really cut out to be a lyricist.

    Lately Fish and I have been hooking up more, which is a good thing because it's just been a struggle for me as a bass player to play with someone who's so creative on the drums, and lately it's been really good, especially during sound checks.

    I want to get an handful of spare basses to use first of all if mine breaks, and second, to learn some things about aspects of basses that I like, so Paul can build those aspects into it.

    We have been trying to play a lot of different kinds of music, and probably the next album will go back more towards the direction where you couldn't classify each song as a certain kind of music. This album you can.


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