I used to break three or four strings a night, and the show would be over because I didn't know how to change the strings. John Darnielle breakchangenight Change image and share on social
Most of 'All Hail West Texas' was written during orientation at a new job I had. I had basically worked this job before, I knew this stuff, so I was writing lyrics in the margins of all the Xeroxed material. John Darnielle basicallyhailjob share on social
I don't sit down and say I'm going to write a song about this or that. They are never mapped out. John Darnielle mapsitsong Change image and share on social
A band's first album's usually not great. When you made the first album, you had a day job and you were still trying to be serious about it. John Darnielle albumbandday Change image and share on social
Opera combines pretty basic theater and poetry, but the storyline itself is actually quite poetic and, after some digital research, taking that actual content and seeing it as undeniably poetic. John Darnielle actualbasiccombine Change image and share on social
I always assumed people wanted to hear me tell stories, but then I had 'The Sunset Tree.' It turned out, my own stories were the ones that registered with people the hardest. John Darnielle assumehardhear Change image and share on social
Something I've learned being in this industry for so long is that if you want to work with somebody, call them up. Very few musicians have any illusions about genre boundaries. They are useful descriptive terms, but they don't really bind musicians. John Darnielle bindboundarycall share on social
I think I read too much Arthur Conan Doyle when I was young and got this idea that a gentleman should know a lot about one thing and plenty about most everything else. John Darnielle arthurconandoyle Change image and share on social
A Cat Stevens record isn't just Cat Stevens' ideas. It's Cat Stevens and all the musicians who play with Cat Stevens, right? John Darnielle catideamusician Change image and share on social
At 23, you can completely, literally reinvent yourself if you want to. John Darnielle completelyliterallyreinvent Change image and share on social
