Good Food Rocks: 25 Best Musician Quotes From The Road
Food Republic Editorial Director Richard Martin, Contributing Editor Matt Rodbard and myself answer the question "is food the new rock?" on a regular basis. We all have solid backgrounds in the music industry, which means — aside from playing great tunes at FR Headquarters — we know bands and DJs eat well all over the world...unless they don't, which also makes for great quotes. Here are 25 that made our jaws drop, stomachs growl and, occasionally, heads shake.
What did you eat growing up while growing up in Morocco?
Lions, tigers, giraffe neck. – French Montana
I worry about bands on the road sometimes.
Adam: I worry about bands on the road sometimes, too. I worry about us on the road.
Casey: Me and Noah started eating lemons on the road, straight-up lemons.
Like, to prevent scurvy?
Noah: Pretty much.
Casey: It's amazing how much better you feel after you eat a lemon on the road after eating fast food for five days straight. -Ambassadors
What's the best thing you cook?
Paul: When I was 8, I went to a restaurant in Bermuda with my family and had whole wheat pasta with shrimp and I remembered it very vividly because whole wheat pasta has such an incredible taste, basically I ended up stealing the recipe. I cooked this the night I lost my virginity, the first time I kissed another girlfriend and the first time I kissed the girlfriend after that. It was our first official date and I thought to myself "say..." It really is my best work. - Savoir Adore
[regarding the line of weird food trucks at Outside Lands]
I'm kind of a working class person, just meat and potatoes, so I'm like, "I can't eat this stuff!" And I so I go to the next food truck, and it was like a pulled pork sandwich, and I was like, "Sweet, I can totally eat that." But then it had like a garlic mustard, fucking caramel aioli something, and I go, "Well, I can't eat that too." So I go to the next one and it's cheeseburgers...and they come in a slide whistle. What the hell... -Petey Dammit, Thee Oh Sees
German Haribo bears are so much better.
Thank you for telling the truth. They are. I've traveled the world and I can't find any better gummy bears than Haribo ones. – Boys Noize
Do you have any quirky dietary habits?
Besides eating eggs every day I'm just a dairy freak really. Drink lots of milk, eat lots of yogurt and cheese — a LOT of dairy. A lot. So I always get really bad phlegm. I'll be trying to talk over the mike and I'm all gross. – Rusko
Okay, so why bananas and champagne?
Taste-wise, they are actually terrible together. It came from us needing energy when we're DJing. We always had them on the rider — bananas for potassium to keep us going, and champagne for keeping your head bubbly. It's the perfect combination. You can't have an apple in a club — it'll get slippery and gross — but a banana is perfect because you open it up and it's all fresh inside. It's impossible to eat a sandwich in a club because it would get so dirty. Clubs are the grimiest places on earth. – Dada Life
Were you always able to make a living as a musician or did you, say, have to work in a restaurant to make some extra cash?
I did grow up working in my father's clothing store when I was a kid, and I even had my own little business every summer. His store was near a tourist spot in Bergen, and I would set up a little shop outside his, where I would sell sandwiches and baguettes with Norwegian salmon and shrimp, which I would buy from a local fish store. I would sit there everyday as a 12– or 13-year-old and run my own little business. – Sondre Lerche
Anything interesting happening on your tour rider?
Sarah: We always ask for a shitload of smoothies. We drink a lot of smoothies. There's five or six of us that tour and we ask for 10 for each show. Then we do smoothie chugging contests.
Josh: Sarah wins every time. And she drinks it up her nose, too. – Phantogram
P, my friend just sent me a picture of you guys in front of your new Porsche. Are people allowed to eat in it?
P-Thugg: People are definitely not allowed to eat, fart, drink, smoke or breathe in my car. And you can't speak to me until you're spoken to. - Chromeo
The name of your latest album is Candy Salad. Where did the name come from and are you on Team Candy or Team Salad?
Quinn: Candy salad is a dish my fiancée came up with as a little kid. She would take all the gummy, sour, fruity and colorful candy, or cut up chocolate candies, and mix them together in a bowl. I'm more of a candy guy. - Suckers
Have you ever heard one of your songs being played in a restaurant? Weird or cool?
Yes, it was weird and cool. Cool because one of your songs is being played in a restaurant! Weird because it was a DJ in a seafood restaurant and he said: "The bass player of this next band is enjoying his meal with us tonight! Here's 'I Can Tell' by White DENIM!!!!!" – White Denim
So you're a sandwich artist.
I worked there for two weeks and I saved up enough money to buy a TV and quit. That was always the plan. It smelled like farts in there. It was fucking disgusting and they made me put my hair in a ponytail. So, fuck Subway. – Wavves
Any similarities between being a chef and being a DJ?
I think the cool answer is they both require a lot of control, thought and focus. But to be honest, they are about as similar as working construction and teaching kindergarten. Two other jobs I have had in my life so far. – FaltyDL
Earliest cooking memory as a child?
My mom and I used to go online and download recipes and compiled a recipe book, categorized and all. We would experiment almost every night. There was an Indian dish we did involving breaded and fried eggplant with a lot of seasoning on it that I remember being particularly amazing. I also remember we got the recipe for McDonald's sweet and sour sauce and used it on sweet and sour chicken because I loved the sauce so much. – Wolfgang Gartner
Let's put together the ultimate dinner party.
I would do Ghostface Killah... and Raekwon, because Ghostface is just crazy. I would have Joe Biden because Obama is the cool choice, but Joe Biden is the guy who just says whatever the fuck he wants whenever he wants and nobody cares because he is the Vice President. I would also have Joan Rivers because she's crazy and old and seen every pop culture moment for the last 250 years. – Mick Boogie
Do you have any pre-show food rituals or habits?
My own rendition of the Peruvian ritual shot. Dip a lime one side in brown sugar, one side in coffee grinds then take a shot of bourbon and chase with the dipped bliss. – Drop The Lime
What's the best meal you've ever cooked or that's been cooked for you?
We have a record label called "Delicacies," with all the tracks named after weird foods. Our manager, who is a bit of an amateur chef, decided it would be a good idea to cook up meal for the release of our single, "Gizzard." It was a French dish of fried gizzards in a sort of lentil salad. Not sure if it was the best meal ever cooked for us, but certainly one of the most interesting. You can read all about it here. – Simian Mobile Disco
Do you have a tour rider?
For tours when I'm touring with hip-hop acts or bands, it's a necessity that boxer briefs and socks are on the rider at every tour stop. There is a good reason behind it. There's kind of an unwritten rule that nobody on the bus or tour van pack boxers or underwear or socks of any kind. They stink up the vehicle and clothes and make touring miserable. A brand-new pack of undies and socks is an amazing feeling while on the road. It's the little things.... – DJ Sku
What's your earliest cooking memory as a child?
Definitely watching my mom make stuffed salmon. That BLEW my mind, I remember being young and being like "What in the hell? When you say we're eating fish we're actually EATING A FISH?" Ahhh childhood. – DJ Skeet Skeet
In terms of food, what is your favorite city to visit while on tour?
If a city has live octopus, I'm usually down with. In Tokyo you might get a glass with a chopstick in it and a small octopus might wrap itself around the stick and you eat the whole thing like a lollipop. It's very clean and very Japanese. In Seoul, the octopus are generally bigger and USUALLY cut up and served on a plate with its pieces looking like worms, crawling and sticking all over. There's a video of me going straight to the source, raw and uncut. – Tittsworth
Favorite cooking shows on TV?
I don't watch TV but sometimes I see Guy Fieri's shows on the plane and I find his selection of shirts interesting. – A-trak
Who's another DJ or musician you've worked with who's really into food?
Kelis is an amazing cook. She actually went to culinary school and can seriously throw down. -DJ M.O.S.
If you get hungry during a set, what kinds of food do you snack on that won't get the equipment all greasy?
Cheese and crackers is good. You can put them on the turntables and watch them go around. – Mayer Hawthorne
What is your earliest cooking memory from childhood?
My grandmother used to make mini hamburgers with me. We would cut out white bread with a milk cap for the buns. I don't know why but it made a hamburger taste so much better in bite size. – Flosstradamus
More music coverage on Food Republic:
18 Photos Of The Food At Last Weekend's Governor's Ball in NYC