Cass McCombs (born 1977 in Concord, California) is an American musician, best known for releasing a number of albums since 2002.
I think I like singing when I'm singing live. It's just in the studio when it's a drag.
I don't really write for an album. I just write songs whenever I feel like it, whenever they come to me. It's all a complete accident.
I've always littered my songs with jokes. You might need to dig a little deeper to find the humor, but I would totally object to being some kind of distraught personality. I've never tried to attach myself to that.
I have been singing as long as I can remember. I used to be in choir; I used to do musical theater. I'd prefer not to sing my own songs, but there you have it.
That's what I mean by "Western morality," is the lack of morality. There is none. People are out for themselves, and they'll stab you in the back.
This is rock'n'roll, not classical music. It's about people working together.
Folk art has never been much about politics; it's about action and utility.
Making music and art is about expressing something that's universally human, maybe even beyond human, at best.
I just like writing lyrics. I find a little satisfaction in performing live, making records. But primarily, I just try to write every day.
I grew up in the suburbs and was raised on rap radio, so it took me a long time to stumble upon the acoustic guitar as a resource for anything.
I don't have a problem doing interviews. It's not punishment. There's things about it that I don't like. No one else is really saying these kinds of things, so someone has to. I don't think that it's the most humbled thing to talk about yourself for hours and hours and hours.
I'm not trying to write for the masses. I don't care.
I don't think music is my job - I don't think about it that way, because I don't really get paid. There's not paycheck at the end; it's more of a "whatever is left over" kind of situation. Also, it keeps me from thinking about my creativity as a business, which it is not. It should remain pure; that's one of the reasons I made music in the first place.
It doesn't mean that I'm overly enthusiastic about much music. Except the people that really touch me. It has to touch me, it has to grab a hold of me, I'm not looking for anything in particular.
I think I try to do a lot of things to weed out casual fans.
I don't care much about politics. That kind of witchcraft I stay away from because people end up dead. I'd rather die for music.
I don't think anyone knows anything and I don't trust people who say that they do. Don't give me a plan, give me action.
I don't live anywhere, so that's what's fun about tours.
Elvis Presley wore a Star of David and a cross around his neck and, when someone asked him about it, he said, "It makes me think. " I love that quote. It's simple. It's beautiful. It's true.
I think it's worthwhile to expand your comfort level and just do something awful. I wasn't trying to make music for money.