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I like visual images and there are certainly other bands that have strong visual images going all the way back to Elvis Presley, but it's kind of like that's never really been my bag. Probably because I'm too shy.

Black Francis

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Black Francis
Age: 59
Born: 1965
Born: April 6
Guitarist
Musician
Record Producer
Singer
Singer-Songwriter
Boston
Massachusetts
Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV
Frank Black
Strong
Visuals
Back
Visual
Going
Bands
Kind
Bags
Really
Images
Way
Certainly
Presley
Never
Band
Elvis
Like
Probably
Shy

More quotes by Black Francis

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Bob Dylan is quite a songwriter, and a great singer and musician. I won't bother with comparing myself to him, but I will say that I heard his records at a very young age and I still listen to all his records.
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I don't want to do children's music. I write kids songs, but the kids songs I write are for my kids - like when I'm putting them to bed. We sing some song that we made up but I don't want to make a record like that.
Black Francis
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They're pretty good actually, Hall & Oates. I gotta give them credit. They got a lot of toe-tappers.
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There was a f**king review in f**king Melody Maker [of the first BOSSANOVA single, 'Velouria'] - 'Sounds like someone's been taking singing lessons'. Like, motherf**king A! I am the singer. Who do sing SONGS. It's like I never sang before like I was - I don't know - reading PROSE on my previous records and now I sing. EXCUUUUUUSE me for singing
Black Francis
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I certainly have gotten caught up in the music business at various times in my life, mostly because you want to get along with whatever record company you're dealing with. I don't want to be flaky. I don't want to be some temperamental, hard-to-work-with musician.
Black Francis
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I don't make records that way, where I'm trying to please the marketplace or anything. Not because I have anything against that, it's just never been a part of my aesthetic, even when I was with the Pixies.
Black Francis
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The first thing that inspires any song is a chord progression. When I have one I really like, I get into the lyrics even more.
Black Francis
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This is a particular thing, you know, catholic stories of martyrs who had their head removed and then continued to be miraculous in the last moments of their life.
Black Francis
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It's sour grapes, I admit, I want to be more famous so people are examining my work couplet by couplet, you know what I mean? That's the level where I want to go.
Black Francis
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As I paint, I realise, while it's something I do very much by myself, it's very solitary, the creative process feels similar to making music to me now, at least as far as my brain is concerned.
Black Francis
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Wise is the tongue, wet of perfect thought.
Black Francis
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I have had UFO experiences, and yet, at the same time, I can easily be convinced that none of it is true. It's hard to say whether or not you're a believer. I've been interested in that subject matter, like lots of people. Perhaps foolishly, I've allowed some of that stuff to creep into my music.
Black Francis
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You think you've made something really great, but there's a reason why it's not resonating the way some previous work did. But it's not that easy to just replicate. Some people think, Oh, just go do that thing you used to do before. But it just doesn't work like that. It's a lot more mysterious or slippery.
Black Francis
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I initially felt shy about doing painting because I wasn't a professional painter. I almost felt like I didn't deserve to paint. But I have gradually adopted a different kind of attitude about this.
Black Francis
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But the truth is that critics are by definition critical. That's their job.
Black Francis
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I'm not saying that people have to listen to rock music. It's a great, cool thing and it can really be liberating for a lot of people but, hey, so can Charles Dickens so I'm not going to judge.
Black Francis
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I think that painting is a very ancient form of expression.
Black Francis
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I come from an art history background. I studied at a master's degree level I chose to dork out on art for much of my adult life. A lot of my heroes are artists and a lot of my musical heroes have an artistic side.
Black Francis
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I'm really inspired by the interplay of visual art and music, a total artistic environment where there's sound and visuals. When I think about that I get stimulated and excited. It's a feeling that you can't label with words.
Black Francis
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I won't necessarily make new music because when you make a record there are these great expectations on the side of the record company who are going to produce your record, promoters that are going to do your shows. They want you to do interviews, they want you to play shows. I mean, they want it to be a campaign.
Black Francis