Quotes About Artistry

I began to fear that the Graham work was not in lots of ways sufficient for me. I suppose it came about from looking at other dancing and being involved with the ballet - something about the air and the way she thought about dancing.

People who do music do it because it is all they can do. And that's me, I suppose. I can do nothing else.

It's music. It's supposed to be fun and inspirational. You have to be inspired. If I did it because it was my 'job,' and I only did it to make money, I don't think I'd still be doing it.

Everybody got away from what Pearl Jam are supposed to be.

I think I was supposed to play jazz.

There's always hunger to create because I believe that's what I do. I believe that's what I'm supposed to be doing.

You want the story to end when it's supposed to and not be squeezed for somebody's financial gain.

I got to where I couldn't listen to country radio. Country music is supposed to have steel and fiddle. When I hear country music, it should be country.

One of the eternal mysteries of ballet is how untalented choreographers find backers for their work, and then find good dancers to perform in it. Is it irresistible charm? Chutzpah? Pure determination? Blackmail? Or are so many supposedly knowledgeable people just plain blind?

I feel I like portraying women-centric roles, since I can express pent-up frustrations and suppressed feelings lying deep inside a female soul.

Judith Jamison is, like, supreme.

I made 'Supreme Clientele' what it is. Those are my stories, based around whatever they're based upon. It's me.

I'm sure there is a group of people that assume Nine Inch Nails is just noise and chaos - or whatever it might be dismissed as, and sometimes is.

I don't like somebody saying to me in their performance, 'Look at this. Isn't this funny?' I pray that I don't do that. I'm sure I fall off the horse every once in a while, but I try not to.

To make great movies, there is an element of risk. You have to say, 'Well, I am going to make this film, and it is not really a sure thing.'

I am surely happy to be breaking away from the norm when it comes to my songs.

I would enjoy venturing into music, as I do write songs and compose music! And, of course, dance, rhythm and performance are in my blood, so eventually I see myself doing something in that area, surely!

Surely there's a deeper pursuit to music than getting bros to pump their fists in the air.

Shostakovich's final pieces, his quartets, are scratching the surface of another world.

You have to learn to draw the same emotion you had when you wrote a song every time you perform it. Acting is the same way: You have to find those emotions and bring them to the surface, and then put them back when you're done.

There's this misconception in the industry that you might have to go a little lighter or skate on the surface in order to reach people - and then in your second album, you get to tell who you are.

I find most 'rules' about how to write a 'good story' confining, and I enjoy writing stories that don't look like stories at all on the surface.

We're not building a nuclear reactor here. We're not drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean with no plan in case something goes wrong. This is making music, this is melodious air and people can hear what goes into it.

You may not hear much bluegrass on the surface of my music, but I feel the emotion I put in a song comes from bluegrass. Bluegrass taught me to interpret a song, not just sing it.