The Steve Gadd Interview Set II

The best way is to lead by example. It's nothing that has to be loud. People are always looking, even when you don't know they're looking. You don't have to be a band leader to live like someone who wants to make a difference.” “The best days of my life are the days that I wake up and I don't know, and then I'm open. You can't always give someone the answer, if they're not asking the question. You have to time when you think it's the right time to give information. If it's not the right time it's not the right information.” “I'm not in a situation where I'm the leader a lot, so it's how I deal with things. How I act and how I react. I think you have to react that you are a leader." "People that were recording for a living made it a point to get in to play. A lot of times you'd get the call if the first call wasn't available. You never go in starting at the top of the list. You always try to go into the city (New York) to get on the list by doing something that sounded good, by playing in a rehearsal band, by meeting musicians and exchanging numbers. Music is word of mouth business.” “When I first came to New York I took anything I could get. Rehearsal things, demos, most of it didn't pay. It was a matter of playing with as many different people as you could and trying to get your name out there." "If you let the music be the inspiration and you find the right thing for the music, chances are it will end up being your voice without you trying to make it anything other than what's right for the music.” “It would be my voice cause I played it, but it's not like I'm searching for something that has the Steve Gadd stamp on it. I'm just trying to play something that's going to work for the music. That's how I've always approached it."