Todd Rundgren – HuffPost 4.10.13

Mike Ragogna: Last time we spoke, I asked you for your advice for new artists, so I want to flip that around a little this time. What was the best advice that you got?

Todd Rundgren: Hmm…Well, the problem was that I got advice, but did not heed it, and maybe that was good. The thing that I got, especially in terms of production, was that it’s not simply the music and it’s not simply trying to make it sound nice. You discover after a while that it’s really about understanding, in some cases, the actual psychology of the people you’re working with. I used to have sort of mixed feelings about a producer whose only skills seemed to be going into the studio, schmoozing the artists and making them feel good. I can see now that in some cases, that’s what you have to do because that’s the only way you’re going to get them to produce. So I had to learn all these people skills after I first started producing, and as successful as some of those records might have been, there will always be people who complain about my bedside manner. That’s something that you continually have to find.

MR: Or throw up your hands and go, “Oh well.”

TR: That, again, is the reason you want to have an artist come to you, as opposed to going to them and then having them get pissed off at your demeanor and firing you.