Quotes from Stephen Malkmus

I listen to things that are popular and try to think about it in a mathematical way.

If I watch a basketball game, I don't really care if a guy hit a three-pointer with three seconds left. I mean, I can like that. But I'm more interested in who drafted him and what makes him special.

'Summer Babe' is the start of Pavement front-loading their albums with the catchiest song first.

'Silence Kid' starts with a broken classic-rock intro. It's funny to hear us do that. Obviously, we weren't skillful rock stars. Then it's spinning through a lot of hooks really fast, and all of a sudden, it's over.

Men are men and women are women, but the men are dumber than the women, usually.

It's normally in the morning, just playing around. And I'm not saying everything I make is great, but that's what I do. I can't even remember how I wrote stuff.

I didn't really like confessional poetry or things. They seemed sort of dated to me, or just corny.

But, then again, I wouldn't call myself an indie-rock supporter even if there are some really good bands out there and there will always be some real good new bands.

If you want to be negative about the whole thing you can say all guitar bands after the Beatles were just a waste of time because the Beatles were the best. I think it's far better to give new records a try.

John Waters is a genius.

I think the focus of the media changes. At the moment the more electronic stuff like trip-hop was the flavor of the month, just a little while ago. It all depends on the angle, from which point of view you see it.

I have a thing for Baltimore: the word itself, the place - I don't know where it comes from; it's just a weird city. I have a song called 'Baltimore,' but I'm not from there. I've driven through there a lot. We've played a couple of shows there, but it's not a big market. Some good bands come from there, though. Animal Collective and Beach House.

Pop music catches on like a meme. It just takes a little bit of tinder, and it can become a phenomenon. You have to break through that wall a little bit. Why it happens, I don't really know.

I hate being tan.

I'm more into describing a scenario and I move around in that scenario.

We were delighted to have Nigel as a producer. The only problem is that Nigel is so famous that he seems to dominate most interviews without being there.

I'm not sure if you can blame everything on the American way of life, but the United States are big. So, if you have a lot of people there, the percentage of stupid people is bound to be higher.

I wouldn't say that 'Wowee Zowee' was a success. We probably had a chance, had I focused a little more, to capitalize on the attention the band got for 'Crooked Rain.'

I don't know if you look back on your life and just see successes, but probably the first things that pop up are the regrets.

George Oppen wasn't a larger than life personality, but I'm not either. And he lived a long time, so he was happy. Going down in flames is fine, too.

There's something in life that's cool, it's relatively cheap, and fun, and populist. Even when it's elitist.

I'm a fan of the Grateful Dead.

I like that band Get Hustle. They're cool live. I haven't heard their records, though.

I've lost my writing skills since college. I couldn't write a book. It would take a long time.