Quotes About Authenticity

I never want to record something that I'm not proud of just because I think it might be a big hit. There's no positive about that because if you record a song you hate and it's a big hit, then you're singing a song every night that you hate. And if you record a song that you hate and it isn't a hit, then you sold out for no reason.

Airbrushing has sold such a false idea of what a body looks like to the point where people can't tell what's real and what's fake.

I'm not in this to make money. I would not have sold my soul to be on 'American Idol.'

The record books aren't going to lie. They aren't going to say I sold out. They aren't going to say anything.

I've never been platinum. I've never sold out an arena. I've never been on an arena tour.

I don't think I ever really sold out, and that made a difference.

Caution and cynicism are safe, but soldiers don't want to follow cautious cynics.

I've spent enough time with soldiers to know that once they get to know you and they loosen up and become themselves, they are some of the biggest hams and most charismatic, cocky, fun, humorous guys I've ever met.

My issue in the past with nudity was that these scenes had been written solely for box office draw.

I don't want to be defined solely by what I do as a jazz musician at a club or a festival. That's not all of me. It's not even close.

When I was hanging out with Joey Clements in Chicago, I made it a point not to try to emulate him. I wanted basically to create my own character. I didn't want him to think I was hanging out with him solely to use him as research.

I don't view myself as a 'trans actor' or a 'trans model.' I mean, I am - it's part of who I am - but it's not something that solely defines me.

Serious journalism need not be solemn.

If every choice you make comes from an honest place, you're solid, and nothing anybody can say about you can rock you or change your opinion.

I've been pretty good at reading people. If you rockin' with me cause you're just a solid individual, then we're rockin'. But if you got a motive or something, I am going to probably see right through that.

All fantasy should have a solid base in reality.

Sexy at the millennium means having a solid sense of self but never taking yourself too seriously.

Mainly, I'm doing my thing, and I hope people like it. I don't say, 'I'm going to write something radical and hope it reverberates throughout society.' The goal is to write a solid, entertaining, engaging show.

I had been wanting to peel back the layers of who I am for so long, but I felt like I needed to prove how solid my work is first.

In solitude, we find ourselves; we prepare ourselves to come to conversation with something to say that is authentic, ours.

There's something about the rawness of the live thing, there's no rhythm guitars behind the solo, nothing other than what you hear the people playing at that moment. It's exciting, it's about the performance.

You don't make solo albums to have hits.

Sometimes I feel like I'm taking on a role when I'm writing a song, and it doesn't always have to be true. I'm not sitting in my room crying with my guitar, writing a slow solo about a depressing breakup; that's not me.

When you make a solo record, it's you. It's your name. It has to be the right songs for how you feel.