Quotes About Authenticity

I hate re-recording. I like singing, but I don't like recording a song over and over, making it too perfect.

'Melodies' is just about having fun! The song's message is about being who you are and having a blast. I had such a great time recording it - I'm glad it's my first single.

The reality of recording, it's one of the most intimate things that an artist ever does because if you do it right, you're exposing yourself, and you're expressing your emotions, and those are the key attributes to a big record that really connect with people.

Like for 'Black Nails,' I just had black nails - and I never have black nails. It was my first and last time getting black nails. And that's so not normal for me. So when you're recording, you're up at the mic and you gotta name the file, so I just look down and I'm like, 'Black Nails!' That's literally what it was.

A stage play is beautiful only when it is seen as a stage play, just like you cannot get the same effect of a live Bharatanatyam performance in a recording.

When I'm on the microphone and I'm recording, or onstage, or shooting a video, I'm doing my job. When I'm not, I'm being myself.

I think the recording industry is founded on that principle: to approximate the live experience, to approximate that thing that evaporates as it's happening, disappears as it's happening.

Any aspect of life can help you be a better actor because what are we doing except living life while somebody's recording it?

Our recordings, you feel that it's been, not labored, but you feel that it's been constructed in a way where sometimes it's hard for us to create the feeling that this was done in a room.

I don't make records that way, where I'm trying to please the marketplace or anything. Not because I have anything against that, it's just never been a part of my aesthetic, even when I was with the Pixies.

When I think of the artists I admire and seek out musically. It's because I'm curious about where they're going to go the next time they have a chance to put a record out. It's not about where I find them on the radio dial, or how many records they're selling.

I've always wanted to make records that rock like hell. But also, I've never wanted to compromise that Country place deep inside.

I know a lot of people who make records, and when you meet them, it's not their personality or they're not what you're expecting. But El-P is exactly what you'd expect.

All of my records have been very personal, just writing more and more songs, you get better at being able to say what you feel.

Bands that say they don't care about how their records sell are liars.

None of the records I make are ever a deliberate construction - they're always an expression of who I am at the time and where I am in my life.

My problem is I don't have this incredible, hip image. I'm not some flamboyant or gorgeous-looking guy who's going to sell records based on his image.

I like bands that don't necessarily sell the most records.

The two records are very different. I guess, on the second record, that's more where I was at. Its not that I'm more well-adjusted or anything, it's just that what I wanted to sing about maybe was more the way I wanted to feel.

We made records to document ourselves, not to sell a lot of records. I still feel that way. I put out a record because I think it's beautiful, not necessarily commercial.

I don't mind The Boss. I think he's an honest guy. I have some of his records, not all of them. I've met a couple of the E-Street guys, and they seem really cool.

We went for the best overall feel on each song. There are no musical overdubs at all. It's a true live record; it's one of the few true live records out there.

I don't use sex to sell records, obviously, but I'd be lying if I said that I don't feel like I have to make an effort to look good when I go out onstage, to wear something pretty.

There haven't been many credible electronic covers records.