Tom Petty Quotes

I believe that music is about making quality things, making quality art, and no matter who you decide to work with, you and that person have to come up with something special, come up with something that is excellent material, so whoever hears it and reviews it will like it.

But some people will say you just did these programs. Well, yes, the programs are important and I'm proud of the programs, but mostly I'm proud of the way the San Francisco Symphony plays these programs.

I just to put out the best records I can and perform the best I can.

The historical importance of a composer does not always go hand in hand with the quality of their work.

Our job is just to keep making great-sounding music and great performances.

If you make a good show, you tend to get good reviews. I don't believe it is as arbitrary as some people tend to think, which artists do to protect themselves against bad reviews.

I can't help it if I make things look easy that some people think are difficult.

I don't ever want to be like a peasant. I want to always be all right. But motivation is fans - not your kids, your mum, none of that. All of that matters, but number one is your fans.

Even if I win the belt, I'm going to be underrated. It is what is it.

If you do a brilliant work and if the audience don't like it, what's the point.

I work a couple of hours a day with a guitar or pushing words around, so over time I have a lot of material, so I don't get into this feast-or-famine situation.

The better the orchestra, often the harder it is to conduct, not the other way around.

In my mind, there's this one 'super genre,' which is the only genre that matters, and that's the super genre of good music.

I think 'War Eternal' - if I'm allowed to say it - for me, it's a masterpiece.

I think everyone that creates has to cope with the fact that people actually don't give you money because they like you, but because they get something out of it.

I really think there are two genres of music: good music and bad music. And I'm just trying to be on the side of making good music.

I'm a self-loathing slide player. Some people like the way I play slide - I hate it.

Each album you make, each body of music, you just never know how the world's going to relate to it.

I definitely feel like I'm underrated.

I don't like doing substandard work... I can't sleep at night if I make a bad song.

I'm not the biggest fan of my first album.

In the end, the best music will always rise to the top.

Fans are very emotional people, and when they have seen you with some people and they like your chemistry, they expect you to work with the same person again.

My fans know me too well.

It's very rare that we play a gig and we all come off and say 'That was great, I had a great time!' There's always someone that's had a bad time. So the goal is always to achieve the next level of performing the piece that you've written. You're looking for something that you haven't even captured on the album.