There's not a lot of pop music in the mainstream that makes you feel scared, that makes you wonder what's happening.
Smokey Robinson is one of my heroes as a singer and songwriter; a major influence on my own music from the very start.
After coming from a major label, I realized the entire business has been decimated, and you can't look to labels to try to figure it out because they don't even use the technology, and they're oblivious to how people consume music these days.
The way Aventura became successful was so weird. We didn't have a major label. They say everything has a reason, but it's not easy to find. The only thing that was right was the music.
It's great to be able to find a way to release your music and do what you want to do artistically and not have to just worry about being accepted by the major label industry.
I think it's a natural fit, major league baseball and country music.
Moog has been incorporated in a lot of our music. I know RZA has several of those machines. So, it did play a major role in a lot of music we were doing.
It's the first time I have returned to my roots - like going back to be a trio. The fans really wanted me to go back on stage and do the Supremes music, so I went about trying to make it happen. We'll go on tour in the summer.
Writing, film, sculpture, music: it's all make-believe, really.
I think too many people look at the arts with a religious outlook. Arts, music, singing and performing, it's all make-believe.
As a producer and DJ, I just like makin' great music and hot records for the club.
It doesn't matter how big the shows are, as long as I'm making a living playing music. That's all that matters to me.
Playing live and making a living from music was always the only goal.
No matter what went down, music was always going to be a part of my life. What ultimately happened is that, over a period of time, I just kind of looked around and when like, 'Wow! I'm actually making a living doing this.'
There are musicians who want to make a living making music. There are listeners who want to listen to music. Complicating this relationship is a whole bunch of history: some of the music I want to listen to was made a while ago in a different economy. Some of the models of making a living making music are no longer valid but persist.
I was doing quite well in Malaysia... Everyone was so excited about my music, and they started accepting me as an artist.
I love being a friend to my son. We go to the mall together. We shop. He picks out my clothes. We hang out. We go to different cities together. We like the same music. I think that's why he appreciates his mom and me so much - we treat him like a friend.
It's not like I'm hanging out at shopping malls or going to celebrity golf tournaments. I'm so in my own little world. I got my dog, my music, my brother, a couple of friends.
I play the piano and that's how I learned about music. I then taught myself the guitar, drums, percussion and various other things, such as the bazooka, the mandolin, the Theremin, the alpine horn, the didgeridoo.
I wrote all my songs on my main instruments, and the songs I would record in my bedroom were just acoustic guitar, mandolin, and sometimes bass. I really like the texture the mandolin added to my music, but my fingers were too big to play it... I could only do little riffs and whatever.
