I think it's so dope that I'm here in Chicago and contributing to the music scene that's thriving. People are so happy Chicago's shining that everyone is willing to say 'I represent Chicago.' That wasn't always the case.
You can tell if there's magic in something. When you start it, you want to finish it and you want it to be perfect. If you're not inspired, and you're working hard to pull inspiration from somewhere and make a song something it's not, then it's very contrived, and I don't like to write music that's contrived.
I'm a little bit of a control freak when it comes to my music, unfortunately.
I feel like more artists like me should be on the radio. Everything is, like, so controlled by, like, super popular music. You know what I'm saying? Like, c'mon.
I found that dance, music, and literature is how I made sense of the world... it pushed me to think of things bigger than life's daily routines... to think beyond what is immediate or convenient.
I would never get married in a conventional way; I'd have the 'Curb' music as the union music.
I tend to gravitate to the darkest or most obscure part of any venue in an effort to have my own space to experience the music on my own, free from unwanted conversations and other distractions.
My music comes from many, many, many places. My emotions, my feelings, my thoughts, and conversations I have with people I know who influence me.
I need to know how many records I've sold, how many album equivalents from streaming, which territories are playing my music more than others, because it helps me in conversations about where we're gonna be playing shows or where I might open a retail location, like a pop-up store or something.
Wagner manages to convey emotion with music better than anyone, before or since.
I love musical theater so much. When done right, I think comedy songs can be the most efficient form of joke delivery. Songs can be the most efficient and the best forms of conveying emotion. Music is universal. It's worldwide.
It's totally produced now. It's almost like a conveyor belt of what metal's supposed to be like these days. It's not music to me.
I think that creative work, music in particular, is a conveyor of inner emotional life. I don't feel one way all the time, so I don't want my music to feel the same way all the time.
I'm used to people not getting it. I'll make amazing music, but it's convincing people that it's amazing - that's the problem.
Unfortunately, nothing is ever that simple in copyright law, and when it comes to music copyright, it's especially convoluted.
My dad was a huge country music fan, but he also had a band and he sang. So he'd listen to a lot of music and the songs that he'd learn for the band were more from the male artists. So my earliest country memories were Waylon Jennings, Conway Twitty, George Jones, Johnny Paycheck even.
Music with dinner is an insult both to the cook and the violinist.
I've been thinking about a cookbook. I've been making notes and promising myself I'll do it some day. I have an idea for a cookbook and music together.
I always loved Sam Cooke, because he seemed very versatile. He sang gospel, soul, blues, pop music.
I love the pioneers like Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, but when I write music, it comes out in my own way.
