Tommy Shaw Quotes

I feel like fifteen years with Fleetwood Mac was like working on my thesis, doing research for some kind of paper.

When I first started making music, I didn't really know what I was doing. I just wanted to write songs. I didn't have a concept. I didn't think it through. I was just flailing around doing what comes naturally. It took me a really long time to step back and deal with what I was doing with any kind of perspective or self-awareness.

Every time I write a song my approach changes.

I did a lot of writing for a lot of different kinds of bands that I was in and out of during those five years and that left me with a little body of songs that I liked better when I played alone, so I ended up going out solo and very soon made my first album.

By the time I approached my forties, I had the self-assurance to approach all the genres I love so deeply: R & B, rock, jazz, and pop.

I've been making music for a long time, since I was very young, but at the same time, I'm still exploring what works for me. I feel like I'm just starting out.

When I was 19, I joined a rock band, and that's when I began to say, 'Okay, this is something that I could take seriously.' When I came to Minneapolis, it just refined everything.

I think that every new record is a chance to... I think what it is for me is my heart and soul at that moment in time... I've always felt that just being able to make a record is a privilege.

It took me a long time to find my voice as a singer, and I'm happy that I did.

But the irony is that because the band isn't the focus any more, it allows me the chance to enjoy being a member of Def Leppard much more.

I prefer to think of myself as a musician who is still learning and trying to do something every time out.

With 'Philharmonics,' I had to do a lot of interviews, and it was like I was corrupting something. In many ways, I've said everything in the song. And either I can't go back to what it was because it's changing when I play it, or I still haven't figured out what the song is about.

With this new album, I prepared for it a long time, and I was happy with the songs and the production. I felt that I proved myself with the first album, and with this new album, I just want to share some of my music. And that was always my feeling and my intention.

I've actually thought very little about solo work up until just very recently. Most of it is because in my band, Incubus, it is very much a collaborative effort. I do what I do in the band, and everyone plays their respective parts, but in the end, we are sort of a democratic process.

I never imagined I'd be a solo artist. And now I couldn't imagine being part of a group.

Being on my own in a studio is really, really different than making music with the band. I can't say I necessarily enjoy it more, but it was just a new experience for me.

I feel like guys, girls, whatever it is, you just come out hoping to make the best record. You just try to have a conversation and just create what you've talked about. Whatever you find to fit the beat at the time, what the person is down for, wherever the beat takes you towards.

When you have four guys in a room writing songs, it different. It's great - that's what makes a band a band. Audioslave was great.

I never left music, I just left the music scene.

I think it took me until - my twenties were really a time of exploration and experimentation with different groups and different types of music. Then I kind of developed the sound, which first appeared, I guess, on my first solo album 'Englaborn,' which came out in 2001.

I view making records as a journey.

'Better' is one of the first real steps I've made into 'pop music,' and this collab feels like a match made in Heaven!

I work on music with different people, and I work on music on my own. That's my life.

My music is constantly changing because I am. I'm writing it and changing as I'm writing.

Unfortunately, the record I did with Motley wasn't exactly a huge success. But working with those guys was a huge learning experience as well as a really creative time, so I had an absolute blast during that five years of my life!