Gary Clark, Jr. Quotations

I don't think anything can touch the expressive range of the guitar.

I've been called 'musically schizophrenic,' and some people think that's a cool thing.

You could say I'm a laid-back kind of guy.

I am the type of artist where you can't tell me anything. I have always been that way. I am right. I don't need any input.

When I got my first guitar, I played along with everything I heard that had guitar in it, like the Ramones, Nirvana and Sublime, as well as whatever hip-hop and R&B stuff was on the radio.

You know, I've never done karaoke, ever. It makes me nervous - I think it's the lack of the guitar and just a microphone.

For a black male, the sound of the blues is pre-Civil Rights. It's oppression.

I failed public speaking in grade school, 'cause I was so nervous and scared.

There's so much music in Austin, and it's all so different.

My mom always told me I should have a Plan B. I said that if I'm not going to play guitar I'm going to play drums. And if I'm not going to play drums, I'm going to play bass. I always just wanted to play music. I was completely obsessed.

The blues is the foundation for a lot of things. Things have branched off. It's cool how music grows, but the foundation is always there. It's not going anywhere. The blues is always going to be relevant.

I'm somewhat of a hoarder. I keep everything.

There's nothing like a music festival. People are ready to have a good time. I don't think anyone comes to a festival going, 'I'm gonna be a complete bummer today.

I never expected to be approached for an ad campaign.

Most of my songs start out as being very aggressive and guitar-driven.

When I was growing up, I would go hang out with older guys at night in blues clubs.

I know that I'm capable of moving around on the guitar. I can express myself the way I want to and feel good about it. But as far as technical chops, I'm not a learned musician.

The guys in my band buy instruments and sell and trade them. But if I have something I hang onto it. Everything is sentimental to me.

I'm obsessed with fuzz pedals.

I grew up with synthesizers and weird, spacey music-hip-hop, R&B, modern rock-that I heard on the radio. That's influenced the way I play music. It's natural for me to go with what I feel. If I didn't let that other stuff out and stuck to a certain format, I would feel like I was missing out on something. I'm just enjoying my ride and being who I am.

I like to see how people interact with each other and I draw from that. I'm inspired by that.

All I can do is do what I can do, and do what I know how to do. I do what I love to do, and that's pretty much it.

I don't believe in competition, ain't nobody else like me around

Music is soaking up things that I see in other people or things that go on in my life, and I put it out there in the form of a song.

You're gonna know my name by the end of the night

I grew up being a huge fan of Bruce Lee, and this quote always stuck out to me. He said, "Water can flow, or it can crash. If you put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot." It always made sense to me to adapt the flow and roll with whatever the situation is and to not think about it too much and get caught up in it. It works easier for me that way.

The blues is the foundation for a lot of things. Things have branched off. Its cool how music grows, but the foundation is always there. Its not going anywhere. The blues is always going to be relevant.

I was just a very emotional player. I wore my emotions on my sleeve. I pretty much told you how I felt. I didn't mince words, so to speak. If I felt bad, I let you know that I felt bad. If I felt you were playing sorry, I told you. If I was playing sorry, I told myself that. I came from an era when losing really hurt. I didn't see anything good about it.