The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne – HuffPost 4.16.12

Mike Ragogna:
 What advice do you have for new artists?

Wayne Coyne:
 In today’s environment where there’s this seemingly collapse of what we feel like is organized record companies–what we really mean by that is that they can’t make as much money any more because so much music is out there for free–you should always pursue what you love. If you are doing what you love, you can’t fail. Failure may mean different things to different people. It may mean you don’t make any money or you don’t have any friends or you’re not famous. But to do something that you love, whether it’s raising your children, helping homeless animals, making music or whatever it is, it is in itself a great, great reward. So when I see young people and they say they want to have a life in music. I would say, “Well, you can do music and you can have a life. I don’t know if making music will give you a life. But, if you’re like me, I am so compelled to do music that I would do it anyway.” I am lucky that I get to pursue music and what I can get out of it and make of my life. But, if I weren’t famous enough to be on your show, I would still get up everyday and make music because I love it. I don’t know if it’s good advice or bad. But what the world is, given the luxury to do what you love, you should try that first. If you don’t like that, you can always go get a job you hate.