"Attempting to write vocal oriented songs to me felt like going through the motions and if you are going to go through the motions you might as well just do any gig that caused you to do repetitive motions like banging a hammer or serving fries"
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Montrose is drawing a brutal line between craft and labor, not to insult labor but to shame the kind of artistry that forgets it has to mean something. Writing "vocal oriented songs" isnt a diss of singers so much as a confession: for him, chasing the conventional verse-chorus-frontman economy started to feel like punching a clock. The comparison to "banging a hammer" and "serving fries" is deliberately coarse. Its a punk little sacrilege against rock's myth of inspiration: if youre just repeating a template, youre not making music, youre assembling product.
The intent is defensive and aspirational at once. Hes justifying a turn away from radio-friendly songwriting toward something more instrumental, textural, or experimental - places where the guitar can be the narrative, not a delivery system for lyrics. Underneath is a musician's dread of becoming his own tribute act, reproducing moves that once felt alive. "Going through the motions" is the phrase performers use when the body is working but the mind has checked out; Montrose is saying the audience can feel that hollowness, even when the notes are correct.
Context matters: by the late 70s and into the 80s, hard rock was getting squeezed between corporate AOR polish and the shock of punk and new wave. The industry wanted singles, hooks, and a vocalist you could brand. Montrose pushes back with a workingman's metaphor that flips the glamour of rock into just another repetitive job, unless the player is still risking something personal.
The intent is defensive and aspirational at once. Hes justifying a turn away from radio-friendly songwriting toward something more instrumental, textural, or experimental - places where the guitar can be the narrative, not a delivery system for lyrics. Underneath is a musician's dread of becoming his own tribute act, reproducing moves that once felt alive. "Going through the motions" is the phrase performers use when the body is working but the mind has checked out; Montrose is saying the audience can feel that hollowness, even when the notes are correct.
Context matters: by the late 70s and into the 80s, hard rock was getting squeezed between corporate AOR polish and the shock of punk and new wave. The industry wanted singles, hooks, and a vocalist you could brand. Montrose pushes back with a workingman's metaphor that flips the glamour of rock into just another repetitive job, unless the player is still risking something personal.
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| Topic | Music |
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