Quotes About Artistry

I can't tell you how many times I've turned to Parliament Funkadelic for inspiration and actually just outright and replayed or sampled a song.

Either I'm in the studio creating something, or I'm on stage doing some stand-up somewhere... or I'm creating a parody video flexing my pecs.

I really enjoy creating music onstage, to participate in making music live.

The greatest filmmakers are not the ones who put everything in; they're the ones who can figure things to leave out, and in doing so, invite your participation.

Music has to be written while people are still excited about a particular melodic or rhythmic sequence. The idea doesn't come out the same if we're not really excited about it.

Which is why, in my lieder concerts, I always strove, when possible, to sing only the works of a single composer, so that the audience could be gradually drawn into a particular creative genius' way of thinking, and could follow him.

I don't particularly fall in love with my own compositions, but some of them are decent.

There were times I used to go to parties when I was, you know, like 15-, 16-years-old, and I'd always bring my guitar, and all my friends would be like, sing one of the Smokey songs. And everything I sang was his music, and I could sound just like him.

Lots of things are hard work, but I think writing, for me, after I started acting at 13 years old. I like writing now much more than I do acting only because, well, partly because the scripts that are offered are junk.

For artists to feel a real emotion to your partner is very important.

The ballets you do make you into the final product you are. And I had extraordinary partners.

I don't want to create music or do a partnership because of the money. I don't want to be money-influenced.

It is none of anyone's business how I make my films or my creative partnerships.

People do ask, 'Are you going to embellish this stuff?' I wouldn't change any of my guitar parts.

I'll write lines or words in a notepad. You work on little things and little parts; sometimes they turn into bigger songs.

When I'm making music, I can hear all the parts, all the instruments. I can hear what it should be.

It's not like I'm writing full songs or full parts and setting it aside for Slash because, generally, I like him to make the first move and hear where he's coming from and what his concepts are, and then I build from there.

I really worked to try and be creative enough on the guitar parts so those who aren't real educated would know that there was some difficulty in doing it.

I like songs that have lots of different parts in them, an intro, an outro and a bridge.

I like to play different ranges. When you get really deeply involved in the emotional parts, I enjoy that just as much as the fun and laughter.

Sigur Ros make beautiful music. Bloc Party are fantastic and exciting and innovative.

For novelists or musicians, if they really want to create something, they need to go downstairs and find a passage to get into the second basement. What I want to do is go down there, but still stay sane.

So much of what I create has been due to the influence of Miles Davis and Donald Byrd, and so many of those that have passed on. Their music, their legacy lives on with the rest of us because we are so highly influenced by their experience and what they have given us.

I've passed up on many a thing that could have made me a big artist or something. Like, I was offered a feature on a Christina Aguilera song and I turned it down. It just wasn't right. She's cool, but it just wasn't right.