Let Love Rule
When I was a kid and I bought a record, I ripped that thing open, I wanted to know who was playing what, what studio it was cut at, who was the string arranger, who was the engineer.
The story that I wanna tell is pretty much about the way I grew up. Being bi-racial, growing up in a big city and being an artist.
The loyalty rate isn't that high. I could have a big hit, then put out the next single, and they say, Oh yeah, who are you? Prove it again.
Where I'm at in life, the women have got to come with something else, not just the body, but the mind and spirit. It usually trips them out, but that's the way it's going to be. I'm looking at the big picture.
My dream is to become a farmer. Just a Bohemian guy pulling up his own sweet potatoes for dinner.
People see my photos and think I labor over my image and I'm this cool, brooding artist. But I'm just having fun with it.
They think I'm being serious when actually I'm a very big clown. But you have to know me to see that. I'm constantly cracking up and cracking everybody else around me up.
Are things getting better with each generation? Yes. It's quite interesting to be living in these times, for me to witness an African-American being elected president. It's quite extraordinary.
My first guitar, a Fender Jazz Master, I traded it in for a Les Paul Deluxe.
God forbid you sing about love. It's a lost concept.
If you listen to a lot of old funk records, the drums are really small. But you don't perceive it like that because the groove is so heavy.
It's a trip to have a Greatest Hits record. It's a trip.
I knew Slash in high school, but not very well. Just knew him as this kid that used to hang out in the hallway. Pretty much looked then the way he does now.
I'm in this for the long haul. I've been making music my whole life.
The fans of 'The Hunger Games,' of the book, are very passionate. It's funny: Even at my concerts there are people holding up 'Cinna' signs.
I'm half Jewish, I'm half black, I look in-between. I dress funny. I play all these different styles of music on one record. It's like, What is he doing?
I don't think about the styles. I write whatever comes out and I use whatever kind of instrumentation works for those songs.
People don't realize it, but no one lives that rock and roll life 24-7. They think it's hundreds of bottles of champagne flowing and private jets and money. But there's a lot of time when you're traveling - time to think, time to be lonely. Sometimes it gets to you.
For the last few years, it's been so chic for everybody to be miserable. Like if you're in with the cool crowd, you can't be happy.
