Mickey Hart Quotes

When the Grateful Dead needed a quality sound system to deliver our sonic payload, I learned electronics and speaker design.

— Mickey Hart

“There's nothing like music to relieve the soul and uplift it.”

— Mickey Hart

“Life is about rhythm. We vibrate, our hearts are pumping blood, we are a rhythm machine, that's what we are.”

— Mickey Hart

“Art in the classroom not only spurs creativity, it also inspires learning.”

— Mickey Hart

“Egyptian drumming happens to be a favorite of mine. It's a really simple instrument, but it's really difficult to play. You can take it anywhere with you - you can play it in your room, in an airport. It's very quiet, so you explore the quiet side.”

— Mickey Hart

“I hated science in high school. Technology? Engineering? Math? Why would I ever need this? Little did I realize that music was also about science, technology, engineering and mathematics, all rolled into one.”

— Mickey Hart

The Grateful Dead were very kind. It was Santa Claus. It did good things. It allowed other people to benefit. The benefits that we played were enormous, and we played free. So you've got a band that loves to play free, and that was a wonderful thing.

— Mickey Hart

“Dreams sometimes foretell the future.”

— Mickey Hart

Yeah, I miss the Grateful Dead. I miss that groove. I miss the brotherhood. Absolutely. There's no doubt about it.

— Mickey Hart

What is the best music is impossible to define. Just because it's played by a virtuoso player, doesn't mean it's great music. It might not reflect the soul of a people, which is really my criteria for great music.

— Mickey Hart

“When I heard Grateful Dead music, I knew that it was the most powerful force on the planet.”

— Mickey Hart

“The point is that the arts are important enough to have influenced the greatest minds and talents we know. Albert Einstein said that if he were not a physicist, he would probably be a musician.”

— Mickey Hart

In the beginning, there was noise. Noise begat rhythm, and rhythm begat everything else.

— Mickey Hart

“People will always try to find themselves and their place in the world.”

— Mickey Hart

“There were many times during our career when he could've quit and done something else. But he knew that his power was with the Grateful Dead. He didn't want to go solo. Jerry was a groupist. He loved to group.”

— Mickey Hart

“I thought the '60s was the most exciting time and the most vital music, and we were really together as one mind then. Then afterwards, the songs and the bad drugs, that took its toll.”

— Mickey Hart

“Adventures don't begin until you get into the forest. That first step is an act of faith.”

— Mickey Hart

“A good groove releases adrenaline in your body. You feel uplifted, you feel centered, you feel calm, you feel powerful. You feel that energy. That's what good drumming is all about.”

— Mickey Hart

“The adventure of composition is a mystery. The muse has her ways, she hides from you, comes for you in the middle of the night, at midday, at dawn. You must believe wholeheartedly in this divine power. Its an elusive gift that can appear at any time, anywhere. Artists are in awe of it.”

— Mickey Hart

“The voice of the drum is a spirit thing.”

— Mickey Hart

Everywhere you look on the planet people are using drums to alter consciousness.

— Mickey Hart

“When you are drumming and really feeling the music, the beat, it is like you are transported to a different place, where you feel so exhilirated and calm through your whole body.”

— Mickey Hart

“Music gives the soul this inner self-expression, a voice. It gives the soul a sound, the sound of the Muse.”

— Mickey Hart