John Zorn - A Man of Many Quotes

Having John Zorn as a guest was definitely a new and interesting experience. Whereas other presenters had music and media to go along with their stories, Mr. Zorn only had to talk. Even so, he kept our attention all the same. He has a knack for coming up with helpful and catchy short phrases and quips that belie his experience and expertise navigating the rough composing waters. I wanted to quote a few of his choice words and talk about them.

• Give up
• I loved his inflection. As a musician and a composer, it's an often thing to hear, and it gets exhausting after a while. But that's the important part. Understanding that it is not a safe career and getting used to the feeling of giving up is necessary to last through the rough times.
• Act on inspiration, and don't give excuses. You can't wait for the phone to ring.
• This is one I'm sure all of us are guilty of. I will often assume that making good work and putting it out there is enough when there is more to do. To go even further, I remember hearing a story about a great jazz composer who would wake up in the morning, sit at his piano for eight hours a day, and write. He would say that he didn't require inspiration if he had persistence. Of course, this is an old story, and I have no idea if it's true or not, or who it could even be about. But the notion that inspiration is all that's required to make art is not one I entirely subscribe to.
• You should not be the best player in your band
• This is not one that I'm used to hearing, but it's surely an interesting concept. It's similar to the classic "would you rather" question, would you rather be the best player on the worst basketball team or the worst player on the best? If you don't get to learn from, then what good is it being the best?
• What is music, but magic?
• This is a quote I've heard before, but one I never get tired of hearing. It's a wonderful concept and one that I keep finding true no matter how long I play around with it. It's a great feeling to transfer your knowledge of music to the experience of someone else.
• Limitations are liberating
• Absolutely! The freer a task, the more daunting it becomes. If a river has no border, it wanders aimlessly and is swallowed by the ground. However, with just a small divet, it can burrow and become much stronger.
• Musicians are born victims because they love what they do
• This is just a well-put statement that I hadn't really thought of before. Yes, we are easy to take advantage of. I love writing music and I do it for myself for free. I need to make sure that I'm not used in ways I don't want.

And a few of my favorite funny quotes:

• Classical musicians are cold motherfuckers
• My way. If you don't like it, fuck you

I felt a little uncomfortable in his answer to the privilege question. I did just want him to say that he recognizes and acknowledges his privilege, but I feel he took it as a personal attack. It's a tough thing to say, but I do wish he had at least been aware of it.