Quotes About Artistry

What if Picasso had gone to the Moon? Or Andy Warhol or Michael Jackson or John Lennon? What about Coco Chanel? These are all artists that I adore.

It strikes me as very odd for someone to think, 'You know what, if I put on a bikini, I may shift some more records,' but it happens. If people are comfortable with that, fine, but it's not something that would ever cross my mind.

All I tell artists is, 'Do what you love. Never let anybody talk you into changing what your musical idea is just to try to get a hit, because you're chasing your tail that way. It's not going to happen, and if you're successful, you have to do it the rest of your life. Stay true to it and do it for the sake of the art.'

I'm of the opinion that as a DJ you must always play what you love and ignore what's 'trendy' because true passion always eclipses what's fashionable. Quality is always fashionable.

And write what you love - don't feel pressured to write serious prose if what you like is to be funny.

I think, at the end of the day, it comes down to authenticity and creating what you love.

The best part of touring is the opportunity to make the music. You get to do what you love and have the ability to go out on stage every night and create.

I'm an actor. I'm a singer. And I dance. To be able to do all these things is amazing. And to have similar-minded people all around you, doing what you love, is even more amazing.

The importance of art is in the process of doing it, in the learning experience where the artist interacts with whatever is being made.

I'm doing the shows. The stage is my canvas; I'll put whatever up there for the visible eye.

Whatever I'm feeling, whatever I'm going through, whatever mood I'm in... If I'm feeling like dancing or clubbing, then it will be reflected in the music. If I'm feeling dark and vulnerable, then it will reflect in the music, too.

Irish poets, learn your trade, sing whatever is well made, scorn the sort now growing up all out of shape from toe to top.

I can sing 'Happy Birthday' to you in twelve different places, but one of them is going to make you feel a certain thing, maybe it's a vulnerability, maybe an innocence, maybe another way is sexy and soulful or bluesy whatever it is, but with singers, exploring keys, I think, is important.

Rock n' roll to me is all about freedom of thought and to be whatever you want to be.

Somewhere in talking and rehearsing, there is a magical moment where actors catch a current, they're on the right road. If they really catch it, then whatever they do from then on is correct and it all comes out of them from that point on.

I'm a bit of a magpie: whatever I see or hear or read feeds into the songs.

I learned a long time ago with guitars and amps or anything else, whatever band I'm in, I'm just going to sound like me anyway, so I just stay true to that.

I hear a good song and I start thinking, 'Oh shoot. You know there's a story that can be told to this,' and whatnot.

Man, failure was not an option whatsoever, 'cause I'm here to play music - that's what I've been put on earth for.

My career is a burden, but I can't just fade out like a pathetic sore loser. More often than not, I'm just making a fool of myself for the hundredth time, and that wasn't part of the plan, initially. I'd be happier not having any kind of public presence whatsoever and just hiding behind the sleeves of the CD.

I actually sing. There's no lip-syncing whatsoever. Everything is live, and it's real. It's not fake.

With 'Wagon Wheel,' I loved the visual it painted, and it's a song I can truly say I look forward to performing every night.

So your job as a director is to constantly try to stay at the steering wheel and pull it hard left or hard right. To try to give it a voice.

I have done all the work myself, not assistants. That's why I'm in a wheelchair: I've been doing it physically - it's hard labour - throughout my life.