Quotes By Alex Kapranos

Cinema, which is influenced by every single part of life, is direct and reaches you immediately. And writing - the best writing is complex ideas communicated concisely. And music - if it's a good tune, make sure people can bloody hear it.

A lot of bands have the enthusiasm kicked out of them by playing really dreary pub venues that just churn bands through.

There's a character that I play onstage, and I can't let him loose in the supermarket when I'm buying my beans on toast.

I think in the world of indie music there's this sort of false modesty.

Glasgow's not a media center. When you're there, when you're hanging about, you feel quite detached from musical movements or fashions or anything like that. You do feel quite alone, in a good way.

It's easy to be lazy when there's food lying around backstage or there's a fast-food joint a couple blocks away. But if you walk a little further, ask around a bit, of course there are exciting things to discover.

You can only begin to be great when you embrace a sense of your own ridiculousness.

Why play a chord when you can play one note?

Of course, there's a certain type of person who feels that anything which becomes mainstream has to be rejected immediately. And that's part of the indie-alternative snobbery and hierarchy and elitism.