Quotes

I used to think of 'alternative rock' as a radio format, kind of the way 'indie rock' used to have more meaning. But it means different things depending on where you are or what country you're in.

Big Red Machine is really a community effort: I guess it involves almost 30 musicians. It does come out of our friendship, but it's really something that is deeply collaborative.

The song 'Hymnostic' is kind of a gospel song, and that song is really fun to sing with as many people as possible. And anyone can sing it, you know?

I think the idea is that every time we perform Big Red Machine music it should be different somehow - like, different people, different songs maybe, definitely different versions of the songs.

Our recordings, you feel that it's been, not labored, but you feel that it's been constructed in a way where sometimes it's hard for us to create the feeling that this was done in a room.

I always want to have time to experiment, and have transitional things, and have these weird non-songs, but usually the stuff I'm working on comes down to this weird deadline, where it just never happens, and it's kind of a bummer.

I kind of love opening, because it's easier and kind of just more fun to get up and play fast and furious and have a good time.

There are people who want to hear what they consider your hits. There are people who want you to experiment and explore random, rare things. And it's kind of a different; they're two different beasts.

I busked a few times in Asheville, North Carolina, when I was 18. It was terrifying. I was probably just trying to meet girls.

I am an expert at applying premade pesto to pasta.

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

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

But I'd say recording and playing on stage are two completely different things. Being up there in front of all those people is like jumping off a cliff into icy water. The recording process is a totally different energy.

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

After years of touring you experience music festivals that are mostly the same - where you copy and paste the same experience into a muddy field in California or a muddy field in England.

I thought I was going to play soccer in college.

I think for me to be involved in a festival, there has to be a strong element of songwriting and musicianship.

David Longstreth is one of the great guitar heroes of our generation.

It's very exciting to have a festival in the heart of Boston. It's an amazing experience to be in a city and to be able to walk in and out of a festival. I think that's part of what's going to make Boston Calling really special.

Die Like a Rich Boy' has, for me, some of the strongest lyrical content I've heard in many years; an epic love song laced with dark imagery and acerbic social criticism.

There's no one songwriter in the band. It's collaborative, and we all have different tastes.

Our writing, especially during 'Boxer' - the recording process was the writing process, which is not the way I would advise anyone else to do it.

Sometimes my brother and I - we're twins, and sometimes we joke that we're like a two-headed monster. We can be hard to deal with because we don't break ranks; we stick together.

From the very beginning, we just sort of made things up together. That's one of the great things about having a twin brother; you have a sort of feedback loop, where you can bounce things off of each other.

I'm probably more obsessed with football that I am with music.