Musical Networking Quotes

Since the inception of Gym Class in 1997, every member has had another musical outlet, if not three or four.

I've learned a lot from Dave Stewart; he's a serial collaborator. He's co-written songs with more people than anybody I know - like the most incredible people too.

Always try and play with as many people as possible, even if it's not your style of music, because you will learn a lot.

When I was younger, I was always running into other girls involved in music. When I was about 14 or 15, one of my friend's dads was an Elvis impersonator and asked us to sing backups at a rehearsal. I did well and was hired. Did that for about two years.

I'm lucky to have had the opportunity to perform with bands that have influenced me as a musician over the years.

I don't feel like that many musicians are competitive with each other.

Being in a different band always brings great musical experiences to be able to draw on.

Everyone that I work with is a friend. I won't make a record with anyone unless we kick it.

I put together the idea for G3 because I felt isolated. The success of being a 'guitar hero' kept me away from all my friends who were guitar players. I thought it would be a lot more fun to play with them.

I just play the music that I love with musicians that I respect, and fortunately, I'm in a position where people are willing to play with me, and perhaps I can do something to help them.

When you think about the industry, you think about people competing. You don't think about people getting together like, 'Let's do a record. Why not?' Especially R&B.

I really just wanted to put out songs with people that I was rocking with.

So much of inspiration comes from collaboration with other musicians.

I feel like my strength is surrounding myself with people who have an ear for things, and then they play it for me. I'm always looking; my ear is always open.

When you're a little kid, you have nerve. I'd walk right up to whoever was recording and say, 'Hey, dude, what's the lick of the week?'

A lot of people assume that musicians are comrades by nature. It's cutthroat like anything else.

To me, a sure-fire way to get in a rut is by sitting around playing by yourself for too long. You've gotta get out there and jam, man! You don't have to necessarily be in a band, all you've gotta have are a couple of buds who play too. They don't have to be guitarists either; jamming with a bassist or a drummer is cool.

It's always great playing with other musicians. It's also a great situation where I'm the older guy, I've influenced generations of guitar players.

I mean, look how many musicians have come through and played beside me, and I'm workin' and they're not.

I think musicians are always very generous in promoting anything good they hear. It's just kind of in our nature.

When I left the band I said Look, I am ready to move on. I was interested in playing with some of the other people that I had bee a studio musician with.

I work on music with different people, and I work on music on my own. That's my life.

If you're in a garage band, it's about being better than the band in the next-door garage. But in the folk tradition, it's more a vibe of sharing.

We do things on an exchange basis in the music business - it keeps the wheels turning. That's how I can get people like Slash, Flea and Kris Kristofferson on my album. Collaboration should be done through trades rather than charging each other a fortune.