Peter Gabriel is both a hitmaker and an astute experimentalist. Few songwriters have towed that line as well as Gabriel. From his time in Genesis to his solo career, Gabriel has proven time and time again that he is a singular voice in music.
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His soundbites outside of the studio are just as powerful and thought-provoking as his songs are. Check out 15 of his best quotes, below.
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1. “Watch out for music. It should come with a health warning. It can be dangerous. It can make you feel so alive, so connected to the people around you, and connected to what you really are inside. And it can make you think that the world should, and could, be a much better place. And just occasionally, it can make you very, very happy.”
2. “It’s only in uncertainty that we’re naked and alive.”
3. Music is a spiritual doorway…Its power comes from the fact that it plugs directly into the soul.
4. “People have the strength to overcome their bodies. Their beauty is in their minds.”
5. “Those of us who have the eyes and ears of the media have a responsibility to amplify the voices of the voiceless.”
6. “I think another thing is that we don’t really want exclusivity. We accept that it is in the artist’s interest to be on sale in every place where they sell music.”
7. “Yeah, in the digital world, it is so much easier to put stuff out without a great deal of paraphernalia and fanfare.”
8. “Having lots of people talking highly of you and respecting your art and your work, this is one of the best feelings that you can have.”
9. “At the heart, it is world music that I do. It’s all connections. Ultimately, we’re all connected.”
10. “Artists everywhere steal mercilessly all the time and I think this is healthy.”
11. “One thing that really appeals to me is this idea of music being a living thing that has an evolution that, in a way, enables the artist to sell a process rather than a piece of product.”
12. “Deadlines are things that we pass through on the way to finishing.”
13. “Whenever there’s a camera around, a video or film camera, it’s a great deal harder for those in power to bury the story.”
14. “I try when I’m writing to fill my head and my ears with all sorts of stuff and then let it settle and filter through. At a certain point, it seems like a fruitless activity because you’re taking a lot of time and not seeming to get anything. And then, slowly, you realize you’ve actually digested elements and that your thinking is being freed up and the way you build up compositions is changed as a result of what you’ve been listening to.”
15. “I was introduced to lots of great music through my local record store. It was a place where people knew music and they knew me, and could make great suggestions and discoveries. Whether it is in the physical world or online, the value of a great and knowledgeable record store has not gone away.”
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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