Herbie Hancock – HuffPost 10.20.14

Mike Ragogna: Herbie, what advice do you have for new artists?

Herbie Hancock: To develop your life. If you have the seeking mind to develop your life and to grow and learn and move forward, it’s going to have a decided positive effect on your music because first you’re a human being. One of your aspects is being a musician. It’s not the other way around. You manifest yourself not only as say a musician but you may also be a father or a mother or a son or a daughter, a neighbor, a citizen… There are all these aspects. Developing your life affects all of those assets, really. That’s part of the process of developing the priceless aspects of life, which are compassion, wisdom, courage, integrity, sincerity, respect for others. All of those things. And quite naturally, they’re going to resonate in every aspect of your life including your music. They give you more to draw from when you are creating music.