All of a sudden, someone threw me in front of this rock and roll band. And I decided then and there that was it. I never wanted to do anything else.
But primarily, the drummer’s supposed to sit back there and swing the band.
There’s poetry in being the band that can sell out Wembley but also makes a record in a garage. I don’t like doing what people expect me to do.
Being in a band was so fun and exciting, but I was just kind of focusing more on performance and wasn’t really writing the songs – I didn’t really think I had a voice.
To me and my band, guitar riffs are what it’s all about. We know that every time we jam on a great riff, we’ve got a fighting chance of writing a great song!
I was a student at Kent State University in May of 1970. I was also a musician in a regionally popular band called the James Gang. I was still going to class and stuff, but I was in and out because we were playing a lot.
I go out with my band six months of the year and the rest of them with the Blues Brothers.
If I wasn’t bound to Brooklyn, due to my own personal reasons like taking care of my mother and the fact that this is where the band is based, I would probably move to Iceland.
I became Iggy because I had a sadistic boss at a record store. I’d been in a band called the Iguanas. And when this boss wanted to embarrass and demean me, he’d say, ‘Iggy, get me a coffee, light.’
My first band, Kid Wicked, we did half covers and half originals.
I got a lot of influence from my father, honestly. He’d take me in his car. I’d hear Carlos Santana. I’d hear Queen. I’d hear all these Turkish people, like, bands that he grew up listening to. He was in a band as well.
When I was in high school, The Dave Matthews Band was a local band, and that was the first time I was starting to connect with a live band that was something that wasn’t on the radio or TV.
I like being out front, doing what I do, but then I also like playing in a band too. I’d like to do stuff like I did with Deee-lite. I went out and played with them and they were the stars, that was cool.
I met the Santana band when I was 14. By the time I was 15, I was a member of the band.
If you come on a band tense, you’re going to play tense. If you come a little bit foolish, act just a little bit foolish, and let yourself go, better ideas will come.
There’s pride on Bourbon Street for the musicians that work there. They take it very seriously. I’ve never worked there or played in band there, but it’s a part of the city. They play for the tourists and represent a whole different side of the culture of our city.
Music is more difficult – try naming a political band. The Dead Kennedys. The Dead Kennedys are political, but they are more funny than they are political.
There are three things we need to do for a band. We need to make a great record; we need to get the record played; and we need to find an audience for the live shows.
I’m very fast on teaching guys. Like, when I came over here, I only had two rehearsals with the band. I wondered when I first got here… but it sure came up great.
