Creativity Quote by Ronnie Montrose

There is a modest brag hiding in plain sight here, cushioned by a shrug. “But it has been a long process” is the weary exhale of an artist who’s tired of being measured by the industry’s stopwatch: albums on schedule, a signature sound, a clean narrative arc. Montrose frames time not as delay or drift, but as the inevitable cost of range. Then he undercuts any whiff of pretension with “kind of,” a classic musician’s hedge that signals self-awareness: he knows “renaissance person” can sound grandiose, so he sandpapers the ego before anyone else can.

The phrase also pushes back against the rock-guitar myth that greatness comes from singular obsession. Montrose’s reputation was built on precision and power, yet he’s insisting the real story is multiplicity - curiosity, side quests, the urge to build rather than merely perform. In a business that rewards brand clarity, “renaissance person” is a refusal to be flattened into one role: not just the riff guy, not just the bandleader, not just a chapter in classic rock history.

Subtextually, it’s an explanation and a defense. If his path looks nonlinear - shifts in style, gaps between projects, interests beyond the stage - he’s reframing that as an artistic ethic. The long process isn’t failure to focus; it’s the price of staying alive creatively. This line works because it’s both candid and strategic: it turns what could be perceived as inconsistency into a coherent identity built around restless competence.