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Aaron Dessner

(1976) Composer

57 quotes in 235 categories

Aaron Dessner is a composer.

Quick Facts About Aaron Dessner

Born: April 23, 1976
Profession: Composer

About Aaron Dessner

[Wikidata] American songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer... | [Wikipedia] Aaron Brooking Dessner is an American musician. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band the National, with whom he has recorded ten studio albums; a co-founder of the indie rock duo Big Red Machine, teaming with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon; and a collaborator on Taylor Swift's critically

Quotes by Aaron Dessner · Page 2

I kind of love opening, because it's easier and kind of just more fun to get up and play fast and furious…

Fun

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I used to think of 'alternative rock' as a radio format, kind of the way 'indie rock' used to have more meaning.…

Alternative rock

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We wanted to create an opportunity for people to share anything, on their own terms, revenue and all. Get away from the…

Create

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I am an expert at applying premade pesto to pasta.

Am

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Our writing, especially during 'Boxer' - the recording process was the writing process, which is not the way I would advise anyone…

Process

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Die Like a Rich Boy' has, for me, some of the strongest lyrical content I've heard in many years; an epic love…

Criticism

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White people need to wake up and tell the truth about US history and the inequality and the ways in which racism…

History

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I always want to have time to experiment, and have transitional things, and have these weird non-songs, but usually the stuff I'm…

Always

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It's very exciting to have a festival in the heart of Boston. It's an amazing experience to be in a city and…

Amazing

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Everybody knows we're big liberals and I was a very outspoken Hillary Clinton supporter, and I still am. It's impossible for us…

Clinton

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The song 'Hymnostic' is kind of a gospel song, and that song is really fun to sing with as many people as…

Christianity

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When you're working with someone new, it takes a second to understand their instincts and range. It's not really conscious.

Instincts

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The National's favorite experiences as musicians are when we are collaborating with people a little outside of our world as a band.

Band

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Big Red Machine is really a community effort: I guess it involves almost 30 musicians. It does come out of our friendship,…

Community

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Sometimes you become the person people try to pin you into a corner to be, which is not really fair.

Corner

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The great thing about being on tour is that... the band plays at night and other than that we have a lot…

Band

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I had been living with my family in France as COVID was starting to spiral out of control in Europe. I said…

Control

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If I'm not working on music, I'm probably torturing my infant daughter, Ingrid, with kisses or running or playing soccer in the…

Children

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There are some things that you see that are hard to talk about. You can't talk about it. You just bear witness…

Hard

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But I'd say recording and playing on stage are two completely different things. Being up there in front of all those people…

Energy

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From the very beginning, we just sort of made things up together. That's one of the great things about having a twin…

Beginning

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There's political content in almost every song we've ever written on some level. It colors everything.

Happiness

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There have definitely been phases of the National, many years ago, where we did party, and various people, in their own way,…

National

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The National guys will tell you the same thing - I tend to work until the last possible minute.

National

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Music for me is an emotional necessity. It's therapy. It's what I live and breathe.

Breathe

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Aaron Dessner by topic

Music (14) Song (8) People (8)