I'm dead serious about my craft and just really serious about making music in itself. I take pride in making songs and albums where no two songs sound alike. That's the challenge and that's what it's all about, to keep it original and fresh and funky.
To be honest, I know this probably sounds corny or whatever because I'm a musician, but listening to music really helps me relax and calm down - listening to my favorite songs. Also, laughing and hanging out with my friends.
I've written probably over 200 songs that have a verse and a chorus and that's it.
I personally don't know what nerves are. I don't get scared when I'm going to play music. But I think something, maybe my fears, are buried into my songs. Because I'm singing them.
There's no huge, deep message in any of the songs. We recorded a few months of being human.
Sometimes I just think that there are more things to be said to make the audience understand what I'm trying to do more. When I'm singing, I don't want you to just hear the melody. I want you to relive the story, because most of the songs have pretty good storytelling.
It used to be the case that for an Irishman to come to the U.S. involved a perilous journey on a ship. It involved singing lots of songs before you left saying goodbye, and once you were in the U.S., it involved singing lots of songs about how you were never going to set foot in Ireland again.
Artie is a singer, and I'm a writer and player and a singer. We didn't work together on a creative level and prepare the songs. I did that.
Most artists, you know, you spend their entire lives learning how to play music and write songs, and they don't really know how the music business works.
I don't know why I write really depressing songs. I'm a kind of melancholy guy, I suppose. But I figure I'm about normal.
My vocal ability is very limited, but I'm fortunate in that I can write the songs around my vocal limitations.
I can't write songs unless I am in love.
As a person, I'm not that hopeful, but somehow the hopeful part of me reveals itself through my songs.
As would-be songwriters, our interest was in black music and black music only. We wanted to write songs for black voices.
One of the album's songs features Mary J. Blige, but I don't want to talk too much about it yet. I think you will hear the music that's been playing in my head when it comes out.
The way I picked the tracks for '99.9%' was based on the feeling of, 'Is this going to be a hit?' I wanted songs that people would immediately hear and remember.
I've always had mostly women come out to see me perform. That's the reason the guys show up; they know R. Kelly is going to draw the women. Most of the songs I'm singing are catering to women anyway.
I know what my job is: I write the songs, I sing them, I play them on the piano.
My producer, Michael Knox, he's kind of my eyes and ears on Music Row. While I'm out on the road, he's looking for songs, and then he and I will get together and go over songs.
Quit shouting those rerun songs at me.
I love 'Sunday in the Park with George.' I saw that when I was just, just starting theater school, and I remember singing 'Finishing the Hat' or at least reading the lyrics to 'Finishing the Hat' and other songs from 'Sunday in the Park with George' to my mom to try to explain why I wanted to be an artist.
I'm more prone to his '70s material, which is what I was around for and watched a lot. I listen to a lot of that stuff. It probably influenced me quite a bit. I'm more drawn to the darker, sadder songs.
When you work on an album for three and a half years, you're kind of ready for it to get out there. To have your songs reach people.
I could stand out front and sing Eagles songs that I sing in my set, but I think people enjoy watching me sing and play the drums. It seems to fascinate people. I don't know why.
There's 40 or 50 songs that nobody's heard that I've done in between albums. There's a whole evolution from Midnite Vultures to Sea Change that's never been released.
I think I'm going to put together a compilation under Disney's name of my songs that I've done for them - because I've done six or seven by now! The latest was for the Princess Diaries 2 soundtrack. So that's the next thing that's coming out.
The songs are not necessarily autobiographical. A lot of songs are a combination of influences. It might be some part of my life, or something I've felt, or something somebody's told me. It all comes together.
He's written some great songs. I thought that 'Blues Man' was a perfect song for me to do as a tribute.
I heard Nirvana, and discovered that songs could be like poetry, but a little bit more refined: you didn't have to have 20 verses to get your point across.
Ever since our Surfin' Safari' began in the early 1960's, the relations'hip with The Beach Boys and water has been synonymous. 'Surfin', 'Catch a Wave', and 'Surfin' USA' are songs which capture the feelings of being out in the water without a care in the world, living a dream so many long to live no matter where they are from.
For me, songwriting is really where it's at. I turn to use the guitar just to help me write the songs. That's it. As a result, my guitar playing suffers pretty horribly.
Those two songs condense the two albums. They also show what the audiences wanted. I was desperate to keep the band together and find something that the public would like.
I've just built a studio in my mama's old bedroom, which I thought was fitting; she died last year. We've recorded nine songs recorded in there already; we're sort of just chipping away.
American folk songs were about tragedy, right? They were about suffering and tragedy, and a lot of my songs are about that, even though they were misunderstood.
In New Orleans, bounce music was prevalent. That was all they wanted to hear. It was new and trendy, and it was hot, and it was taking off. Artists were coming out of everywhere. They did some great songs, some really catchy, fun songs. That was just the feel of New Orleans music.
If part of the purpose of making an album is to get some radio play, then you might as well think about that. But that's not really how we picked the songs.
