David Byrne regretfully admits he was a “tyrant” earlier on in his career
David Byrne might be a beloved household name, but he has admitted to being a bit of a “tyrant” in his early career when it came to musical collaborations.
The former Talking Heads frontman made the admission while chatting to fellow performer FKA Twigs in a new series from Coachella, titled Artists on Artists.
As the pair discussed their approaches to music-making, FKA Twigs asked the ‘Psycho Killer’ singer whether he made any early mistakes that he learned from.
Casting his mind back, the icon shared, “I can think of one… big one that’s kind of a process. I think maybe I was insecure about collaborating with all the various people, but very secure about my vision, what I wanted to do.”
Byrne revealed that, because of this mix of emotions, “I became like this little tyrant who would say, ‘It has to be this way. No, you’re not doing it right. It has to be like this. You have to play it like this. You have to go like this. No, let’s do it again.'”
Of course, the creative process requires a sharp mind and utmost precision, as Byrne admitted, “Which in some ways you have to do anyway. Yeah. But I would get very bossy about it. And I thought and realised that’s not the best way to get results.”
The lesson he learnt from this early mistake was invaluable: “Over the years, I found out that if I can, in a way, make everyone a collaborator,” he shared, then the end product would benefit.
The icon has been consistently on the road since the release of his album Who is the Sky? in September last year, with a massive run of shows already having taken him all over the world.
He has plenty more tour dates to go, playing shows that will take him across Europe, the UK, North America, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea.
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