War & Peace Quote by Eric San

Eric San’s line lands like a ceasefire declaration in a culture that keeps trying to turn gear into ideology. “I’m not here to battle anybody” isn’t just a plea for civility; it’s a rejection of the tribal economy of modern music-making, where identity gets stapled to tools: analog vs. digital, turntables vs. controllers, modular purists vs. laptop “cheaters.” San is naming the exhausting ritual where artists are expected to litigate authenticity instead of making work.

The pivot is the quiet jab: “In the end it’s just an instrument.” That “just” drains the drama from the debate. It reframes technology as neutral, or at least as morally uninteresting compared to what the musician does with it. The subtext is almost parental: stop projecting your anxieties about skill, taste, and legitimacy onto the object.

Then the kicker: “That shouldn’t be a concept.” He’s calling out how bizarre it is that this even needs explaining. The phrase suggests a scene so saturated with discourse that basic common sense has become a position you have to defend. Coming from a musician, it reads less like theory and more like fatigue: a veteran’s impatience with gatekeeping and brand-war thinking.

It works because it’s both humble and defiant. Humble in its refusal to claim moral high ground, defiant in its insistence that art isn’t a tournament bracket. San isn’t denying conflict exists; he’s refusing to let it define the music.