Quotes About Music

I love pop music... some hip hop... not super big into rap, but I love Rihanna. I love Alicia Keys. Rihanna was my first concert I went to. I love her.

I was a super once - an extra - in 'Die Fledermaus,' and was seated within three feet of Placido Domingo. I had never heard a voice of that beauty so close up. It felt as if an electric shock were running through me.

I love the song 'Into the Night.' It's Roy Orbison meets David Lynch meets Iggy Pop on amphetamines. It has a punk edge that is not HIM, per se. It is super melodic and super '60s, and that is very new to me and it is a sense of achievement to me.

I want to impact the world and the culture in a positive way, spread super dope messages and help people through my music.

The bigger your songs get, the bigger the festivals you play at will be, until you make it to Ultra. It happened super quick for me. I'm still in shock, actually. I have to pinch myself a lot.

My songwriting is so influenced by orchestrated music, dramatic, super glam rock-y stuff. Two of my biggest influences in songwriting were Elton John and Freddie Mercury.

Marvin Gaye, I'm super influenced by him. D'Angelo, Donny Hathaway. All the old school cats. New people, I like M83. I like Coldplay. I love Frank Ocean. Miguel. I get inspired by all these cats. People don't know that me and Frank Ocean went to high school together.

Oh, man, the first concert I ever went to was Boston and Sammy Hagar, and it was absolutely incredible. I was just blown away by both bands, and, once again, it was my first concert, so that made it super, super special.

When I learned to play music, I was listening to blues music. And all the blues music I liked was super simple and stripped down. And then all the hip hop I liked was super simple and stripped down and we always heard that connection.

I like working with people who are passionate about what I'm doing. I'm super passionate about music, so I want to make sure my colleagues and people on my team are the same, as well. I'm a very hands-on artist, so I don't give my work to my team.

I was in Fort Lauderdale from about age 7 to 14. And that's where I learned the most about music. My favorite DJ was this guy named DJ Laz and the Miami bass guys. I was super into, like, Arthur Baker, that kind of stuff.

When I'm on the road and it's super stressful, it definitely affects my music. When I'm hanging out with my friends and my girlfriend and things are good in my life, then it's better.

If Frank and The Beach Boys got together and did a Super Session album, it would be a gas.

I learned the songs and played the gigs, and then they called me about a month later. They told me they were like super stoked on me and asked me to join their band.

The element of harmony is super important.

I'm too young to have experienced firsthand the '70s rock, but when I was in high school, me and my friends were super into Neil Young. That was the grunge era, and he was considered cool again.

I think it is a shock to people to find out that MC Hammer is a super geek.

I was always super, super musical. So my parents recognized that and put me in choirs, piano lessons, and all that.

My go to karaoke song is 'Stars' from 'Les Mis', which is Javert's song. And it's super strange, and every time it comes on people are really weirded out, but that's what I do.

One Direction are super cool.

The power chords in 'Come Sail Away' were super heavy to me as a kid. Metal? No. Hard rock? At times, for sure.

I'd been listening to some old '70s disco, soul stuff, and I thought, 'Let's go into the studio and do something different. Let's do something that's super unashamedly pop and fun and danceable.' 'Trouble' is what we did. It's something that wrote itself.

People assume that a lot of pop artists don't write their songs. That, for me, is super frustrating because I think it detracts from some of the art and some of the craft of what we do. I'm at the helm of it, and I think that is what people don't see.

Both labels are super awesome, with super awesome people who want to get stuff done. The biggest difference is that Sub Pop is already established, but working with Burger seems like we're part of something. They're growing, and I'm growing with them. They're my friends, and we're doing it together.