"I have always idolized eccentric people"
About this Quote
There is a quiet manifesto tucked into Brandon Boyd's seemingly casual admission: his heroes are the people who don't quite fit. Coming from a musician whose own career has lived in the overlap of rock swagger, art-school surrealism, and New Age curiosity, "idolized" isn't just admiration; it's self-selection. He's naming the tribe he wants to belong to, and the permission structure that tribe provides.
"Eccentric" is the key dodge and the key tell. It's a flattering word for difference, one that frames weirdness as style rather than pathology, choice rather than alienation. In a pop culture economy that rewards originality but punishes social friction, calling someone eccentric is a way to celebrate deviation without confronting how costly deviation can be. Boyd's line keeps the romance of the outsider while smoothing over the bruises.
The subtext is also aspirational branding. Alternative music has long sold authenticity by elevating misfits into icons, turning marginal traits into marketable mystique. Idolizing eccentrics is a way to signal taste: you're not impressed by conventional success; you're tuned to the interesting frequencies. It also hints at a personal ethic: if the people he worships are odd, then his own oddness can be reframed as lineage, not flaw.
Most revealing is the word "always". It's not a phase; it's an origin story. Boyd isn't just describing preference. He's sketching the childhood bookshelf, the teenage mixtapes, the adult artistic posture - a lifelong practice of choosing the strange as a compass.
"Eccentric" is the key dodge and the key tell. It's a flattering word for difference, one that frames weirdness as style rather than pathology, choice rather than alienation. In a pop culture economy that rewards originality but punishes social friction, calling someone eccentric is a way to celebrate deviation without confronting how costly deviation can be. Boyd's line keeps the romance of the outsider while smoothing over the bruises.
The subtext is also aspirational branding. Alternative music has long sold authenticity by elevating misfits into icons, turning marginal traits into marketable mystique. Idolizing eccentrics is a way to signal taste: you're not impressed by conventional success; you're tuned to the interesting frequencies. It also hints at a personal ethic: if the people he worships are odd, then his own oddness can be reframed as lineage, not flaw.
Most revealing is the word "always". It's not a phase; it's an origin story. Boyd isn't just describing preference. He's sketching the childhood bookshelf, the teenage mixtapes, the adult artistic posture - a lifelong practice of choosing the strange as a compass.
Quote Details
| Topic | Deep |
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