Quotes About Artistry

Of course, you can't teach songwriting. You can only encourage people to do it and help them to sort out for themselves what they want to achieve, and get a list of exercises together that improves the craft and gives them more access to the craft of writing good songs.

Songwriting is what I do, and there could be worse burdens to carry.

When I was younger, I always wanted to be either a pianist or a classical singer, and when I discovered songwriting, it was like a new portal had been opened.

I love songwriting, and rap is part of my songwriting, but I'm not a rapper.

My process of songwriting comes from a very real place: a place that when you watch 'American Idol' - God bless it, it's probably an awesome experience that these people are having, but it's not a real one.

Songwriters often seek the company of fellow songwriters to help finish what they've started, and these days, many do it at songwriting camps.

This goes for our songwriting as well as our success as a band - the minute we stopped chasing what we thought people wanted to hear and started writing things that moved us, that's when people started paying attention.

A lot of bands are influenced by other bands, and that informs their songwriting for sure. It definitely informs my songwriting, too. But it's more about not thinking about it, and if it comes out of you, it's better.

As a creative individual, I really go out of my way to avoid the corporate scene in terms of songwriting. If the first question is how much money is it going to make, I'm going to be in trouble anyway.

All of my acoustic playing came from my songwriting. All of the chords I've learned and all of the voicings I play them in are a direct result of composing.

Songwriting itself, I don't think you can really teach that.

I thought my singing and songwriting were good, but nothing different. Then you're presented with this picture image that contradicts the impression you get from listening to the record.

I sing and play guitar, but songwriting is how I pay my rent. And so I didn't really need a lot of publicity to get people to record the songs.

I think that's always the hope - I mean, I can't speak for others, but I think other artists, no matter what type of medium they are using - whether it be from painting to acting to dancing, songwriting, or anything like that - I believe the desire is to get to the truth, and I think it's really hard to tell the truth.

Every musician out there wants to be judged on the merit of their songwriting, the merit of their performing abilities.

My focus on everything is songwriting, so I write all of my stuff by myself.

It's such a weird process, songwriting, because you just have to feel it. There's no right or wrong melody or lyric.

I'm talented in other places, not only in songwriting, but music is always going to be the backdrop to whatever happens in life.

I started songwriting at around age 12, and that was it. I never really stopped. Nothing else ever really crossed my mind. It's truly the expression of who I am.

Songwriting is such an intimate thing, and with people you don't normally write with, you're naked.

My favorite way to get into the songwriting process is to get into the studio, and then usually, they play a loop of four chords, or something, or guitar, and then I just start singing.

To try and learn how to be a singer, a really good guitar player, a really good pianist, it's always lagged a bit behind learning to be the best songwriter I could possibly be because songwriting comes naturally to me.

Both with songwriting and playing a role, you're delivering the truth of something in a moment. In a lot of ways, it's the same thing.

With animated film, you have to create the sonic world; there's nothing there. You get to color things in more and you're allowed to overreach yourself a little bit more, and it's great fun.