Quotes from Samuel Ervin Beam

I'll always err on the side of art for art's sake.

I would love to be able to do the pace that people used to do decades ago, where you'd make a record a year, or something was wrong with you.

Yeah, I've always liked Barbara Crane's stuff.

I'm pretty easy going. I can be anyway. I definitely have my moments. You can ask my kids. But I try to be nice.

I'm not religious. But I grew up religious in the Bible Belt.

The Beatles showed with 'Sgt. Pepper's' that you can make an album out of anything, just make it seem like it's connected.

Me, I'm a lazy bum, so I don't shave.

I've always liked string sections. I'm a sucker for melody, so it's fun to have strings add more layer of melody in the arrangement.

I am not interested in political writing, because it's limited in its scope. I try to write general, human kinds of songs, which suggest more than they explain. You can take a lot of different meanings, but hopefully everyone feels some kind of recognition.

Religion is a huge part of our consciousness. I grew up in the Bible Belt, so it's our mythology. Those are the stories we learn as little kids at Sunday school. I'm not afraid to use the metaphors, because I think the stories are beautiful.

I went to an art school and you learn very quickly there that you're only as good as your next idea, not so much what you've got going on at the moment. And so I embraced that. It sunk in at an early point.

Oh yeah, I love Peter Gabriel's stuff. I mean, I even have the Genesis records. He's incredible.

I went to art school, wanting to be a painter and then I got into photography. Then it was movies, and I liked the images. One of the things that interested me in film was that I was communicating in images. That was something I did intuitively and could not even talk about until I started having to do interviews.

I make music and hope people enjoy it - but when they do it's always a surprise. A nice surprise, but not one that I expect to always be there.

I remember 'The Shepherd's Dog' record being not necessarily a political record, but a reaction to socio-political situations in America. And it didn't manifest itself as protest or propaganda songs, but there's a lot of surreal imagery that was born out of really me being surprised Bush got re-elected in '04.

I don't advertise what I do to my kids. I don't go around waving a flag. I'm sure they are proud, in a certain way. I'm not like 'hey kids - check this out.' No matter what they do, your dad is still your dad. Nothing is going to help you out in that regard. Dad is just not cool.

I don't write Plastic Ono Band stuff, though I love that record.

I try to use a poetic language more than talk about my feelings, but it is married to the music.

I feel like anytime you write about people in an honest way, you can find connections to any issue you would like.

I like short records in general that you can swallow in one sitting.

Contradictions are fun.

I like to make fun records. Contrary to popular belief.

What's around the corner is always more exciting than the corner that I'm on, unfortunately.

I'm a movie buff, and I'm interested in the craft of it.