Explore Quotes by John Rzeznik

I think people get a little resentful when they were there at the beginning, when they supported you when you played in front of nobody - which we still do. They get a little resentful when they have to share with new people. That's why I want to really look out for the people who've been with us from the beginning.

I had good parents, and even though they weren't around, they were always an influence on me.

In my family, my earliest memory of you get out of line is - BAM! It was a lot of corporal punishment. But you can't do that.

Sometimes it doesn't feel like I'm in control but that I'm going along for the ride. And I'm a lousy passenger; I love to drive.

I got into alternative rock in the early 80s, bands like Husker Du and The Replacements. Bob Mould's playing was a huge influence. It was very heavy with a lot of open tunings, which was great because I played in trios, so I used open tunings to get a fuller sound.

John Shanks is probably the biggest workaholic I've ever met in my life.

When I'm afraid of something, I'm going at it twice as hard. I don't believe any fear can be conquered by avoiding it.

I was brought up by four older sisters, so there's trouble right there. We are Catholic, very religious, and that sort of colors my world and my music.

A little renovation and reinvention is a positive thing.

I have this morbid fascination with being completely alienated from everybody, and a lot of the time I really do feel that way.

As a society, when you have your mortality slapped in your face, it changes you.

One of the things about live music that's so incredibly important and can't be replaced and automated is the common focus of a room full of people having that human contact and being immersed in the sensory overload of a rock concert.

I like Valentine's Day. It's fun.

We started the band when I was about 19 or 20. At that age, it would have been kind of hard to imagine a lot of the stuff that I've written. We were playing garage rock. I wanted to dash out three chords and scream. But if you do that for 20 years, what's the point?

I made a deadline for myself that if I wasn't earning a living being a musician by 'A Boy Named Goo,' I was going to get back to school, get a degree, and go on with my life - and enjoy the memories I had.

I get nervous around famous people.

I enjoy watching Chris Matthews a lot. He reminds me of a throwback to the older school kind of pundits like Tim Russert.

I no longer feel the pressure of trying to write hits for the radio anymore.

Punk was key to the early part of me playing guitar. I was really into melodic punk-rock. I related to punk more than Lynyrd Skynyrd or Yes or Van Halen.

For me, social media is a one-way deal. It's like all the traffic goes one direction and I don't care how many people follow me, I don't care how many people like what I do, give me a thumbs up or whatever it is. I am here to share a piece of information that I've decided is relevant to our relationship as musician and audience member.

When KROQ played 'Name,' that was the turning point for us.