Quotes About Artistry

I'm one of the culprits who keeps turning stuff around, shaking up original tunes and trying to stand the canon on its ear. But sometimes, you just need to sing the song.

The idea of turning an album into a living piece of art and adding new installations is really intriguing. It expands the journey.

My dad, before he passed away, never understood what I did. What I say is that I'm responsible for translating the director's vision, hopefully turning an idea into something people can connect to and relate to.

I started writing - just generally - when I was 10, there, and started writing songs when I was maybe 11 turning 12.

With 'Letters from Iwo Jima,' then 'Memories of Tomorrow,' I reached a sort of turning point in my acting. I had poured so much of myself into those movies that I really had no idea where to go from there.

I'm a lot less precious than I used to be about putting things out, for better or for worse. The result of a public that has a very high consumption rate and turnover rate is people listen to more music but spend less time with individual bits of music.

I don't want to live in an ivory tower, being the songwriter who just turns inward.

When I'm recording my album, I want to be acting, or when I'm on set, I want to be making music. I guess we'll see how it turns out and which one overpowers the other... but I couldn't really see my life without them, both of them.

If it turns out to be a hit, well, good luck dealing with fame. And if it's not a hit and you can still survive and make music you believe in, well, then you're truly blessed. I think that's where we are now.

I have always been a big fan of MAC! I like how the brand turns makeup into a form of self-expression which always gives me great confidence on stage.

My goal as a songwriter now is to simply write some memorable turns of phrase.

Some people just come in, do it and they know it's right. It turns out better than you imagined it was going to sound. When that happens, you take it as a gift.

I love roles that don't really have a template or a paradigm and force me to create using my own imagination... that really, really turns me on.

I'm personally attracted to great writing - that's what turns me on the most.

A film maker's energy and creativity don't have to end when he turns over his film.

We're always on the search for a novel or a source or an existing screenplay, or writing something ourselves that turns us on. But because films cost a lot of money to make and a huge amount of effort to get the people to rally, you have to really like it; you can't just semi-like it. Getting to 'really like' is the part that takes the minute.

There's individual turntable setups devoted to piano, bass, drums and a set for soloing as well. We like to try and explore the gamut of what a turntable can do.

I hear a lot of bad TV commercials that try to sound like Where It's At. That pretty much turned me off from using the electric piano for a lot of years.

I don't make any distinction between a popular TV series or blockbuster film and doing Shakespeare. They're different, but as long as the material is good and the intention is honourable, it's all the same to me.

I like to spend as much time on the stage as possible. I don't do a regular TV series because I don't want to be overexposed.

I rip off of every movie and TV show I've ever seen in my life.

There are times where we are shooting a TV show, and it goes very fast. But everybody has this freedom to still be artists.

We love doing commercial and TV show work.

Artists should be free to create what we want. I believe there's a special value in work that is a reflection of oneself as opposed to interpretation. When I see a film or a TV show about black people not written by someone who's black, it's an interpretation of that life.