Stephen Malkmus Quotes

When I was growing up I actually was into Bon Jovi!

My musical tastes change every week.

I love punk rock, but I also love metal.

In between 15 and 20 - probably at around 17 - my interests switched from hard rock to punk rock. And then by 20 they were circling out of punk rock back into Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, the stuff that I didn't get to when I was younger.

People would be surprised at how much of an electronic dude I am, and I like new wave, post-punk and proto-punk stuff.

I think stuff on the radio is mostly good, but it's just not what I'm into. I'm not into rap metal.

I'm completely open about the fact that I don't love every genre of metal. I like what I like. It's got to have some vocal quality and some semblance of melody.

There are bands that I got into when I was 15, when I was mad at my dad and just wanted to be different. I don't think I'd give those bands half a chance now. But I hold some kind of nostalgia for them that I won't let go. Bands like Minor Threat and Black Flag.

As soon as I got into country music, it was like hook, line and sinker. I was so focused on country, I ended up leaving all those '80s hair-band CDs behind - which now I still wish I had, but I was done with it.

Before I even started listening to rap music, I was really into metal and punk.

Before we joined BABYMETAL, we weren't that familiar with metal, but we learned a lot from Metallica. Watching their shows and even meeting them, they were really nice to us.

Metallica is a big, huge influence and inspiration. That's who Babymetal aspires to become some day.

I actually grew up on rock music; that's what was played around my house. I listened to Led Zepplin, AC/DC, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Nirvana, Aerosmith - really almost everything.

A lot of the hardcore fans wanna hear the deep cuts - songs like 'Orion' or maybe like a 'Disposable Heroes' - you know, songs that we don't play all the time - and then, of course, they wanna hear 'Sandman' and 'Nothing Else Matters' and some of the hits.

I love heavy metal, Metallica. I'm into Jefferson Starship and acid rock.

When I started forming my own taste, there was a period in high school when I listened to only rap and hip-hop, like A Tribe Called Quest.

I don't think Metallica sits around all day wondering why country music fans don't embrace them.

I think the only music I didn't listen to was country and western, and that holds to this day.

I got into one Metallica record. That was about it. I never got into AC/DC or Black Sabbath or any of that. I was interested in the side of heavy metal that had interesting guitar ideas, but that was a very short-lived thing.

I would say that I'm very proud that Metallica plays heavy music - but equally proud that we don't think like a heavy-metal band.

Soundgarden and Metallica, The Ramones, Everclear... I think they all wanted to see if we still knew how to play.

I think, actually, that rock and roll is a misconception. It should no longer be a term for music.

I was playing heavy metal when I was 18. I had to evolve out of that into an alternative consciousness about what it meant to change the way I played guitar, and the kind of songs, and the subject matter, and singing about child abuse, and all this stuff. I had to come from somewhere, and I had to take chances to do that.

I didn't grow up with indie rock - I mean, I listened to bands that are considered indie rock, but I think that term is dead and uninteresting.

The Metallica film was like this incredible life experience where I learned the most through guys that stereotypically you would think couldn't offer much to you. That's what I love about the film: It explodes your stereotype of them - they're not just a bunch of lugheads banging on the guitar.