Haha, it's the "we wanted to party and not study and we didn't tell you because you aren't pretty" is hilarious. It definitely makes the story sound fake even if it is true.

People don't describe themselves like that. They rationalize why it's reasonable.

Folks are more likely to say "I didn't want to learn a regimented set of things because it interfered with my ability to compose freely and play fluidly instead of mechanically. Also, art is about collaborating with other artists to make novel things, not just to repeat stuff like a machine"

Maybe these days even "not everyone is privileged enough to be able to obsessively repeat the same exercises over and over again"

No one in the history of man has ever made themselves out to be villainous. This sounds like a Scooby Doo villain when unmasked. "we would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kid"