Quotes from Carter Burwell

Learning how to improvise really awakened my interest in music.

I like the fact that New York looks a bit backwards, toward the Old World, rather than resolutely forwards.

Los Angeles is an industry town, and it has great facilities and personnel. The disadvantage is that everyone there seems to talk about the same subject matter.

New Yorkers may think they're on some cutting edge, but that's not especially true. It is, however, the most exciting heterogeneous mess of a town I've ever seen.

When the systems we expect to help us actually hurt us, we have tragedy.

There is not much irony when people are being happy on screen.

I just love the sheer mess of New York.

I almost never try to make the audience comfortable. I wouldn't want that if I were in the audience.

The flow of Guiness into the studio was inspirational as well as nutritive.

Any film which views the darker side of life, which is death with a sense of humor, is very much to my taste.

Death is always around the corner, but often our society gives it inordinate help.

I'm one of those people who is actually inspired by a deadline. I might not sleep for many days on end, it may not be good for my health, but it definitely helps.

I would like to do a science fiction film some day. Star Wars seems really to have destroyed the genre, which at one time offered great musical opportunities.

Even if I went off to some other career, I hope I would still be doing Coen films.

In mainstream romantic comedies, I'm usually tearing my hair out. It's just a devastatingly difficult genre for me.

Learning how to improvise really awakened my interest in music.

John Barry was my hero when I was about 13. His scores to the James Bond movies were the scores of my life back then.

Hopefully each film can be given a musical voice of its own, which is not to say that the instrumentation is always unique, but that the relationship between the sound and the image is unique.

I would like to do a science fiction film some day. Star Wars seems really to have destroyed the genre, which at one time offered great musical opportunities.

How does my music connect to an audience? That is just a complete mystery to me.

Hopefully each film can be given a musical voice of its own, which is not to say that the instrumentation is always unique, but that the relationship between the sound and the image is unique.

All my music is very simple in that melody is usually clearly stated.

I think being a little nuts is helpful.

The jarring change going from an urban environment to an extremely remote natural environment is extremely inspiring. It's constantly stimulating, it's like a slap in the face.