Mija Quotes

I think that I've gotten a lot more relaxed, and I know how to go about getting a sound now. I know what to do to get the vibe right. As an example, when I'm doing vocals, I don't have six guys sitting out there in the control room, messing around, making faces.

The very first Walnut Whales recording was recorded just a few weeks after I had started singing, out of the blue, started singing. And the voice, you can hear how uncomfortable I am with it, and how terrified I am with it.

I keep these songs in my head until I get behind the microphone. I never spend more than 30 or 40 minutes singing the vocal or it will sound mechanical. There are always mistakes, but it's about feeling more than being perfect.

When I'm in the studio, I like to be in there by myself because if I'm in the mike room, and I look out and see people talking, or they're not nodding their head or rocking to the music, it makes me feel like it don't sound good, or I'll be scared to really open up vocally because I might mess up, and they might be in there laughing.

I was still afraid to sing in front of people before 'Glee.'

Oh, I'm not a very good singer, and that's 'cause I was always embarrassed about my singing.

I hate my voice. I've never been comfortable singing.

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. But while I'm doing vocal in a studio, I can't stand it.

The original vocals had an awful lot of work put into them at the time, and I wasn't really sure that I could better them - I don't know if I have bettered them.

I've been studying voice for quite a while, especially opera, for at least seven or eight years.

I do see myself doing more than just playback singing.

At first, I wasn't really keen on the idea of me being on stage having to sing in front of people.

Getting into the voice-over booth, there are no cameras and no inhibitions.

It's an enthralling experience to be in front of the mic and record a song.

I became a recording artist before I knew it. And I just - when I would listen to my old records, I'd just hear this young, extremely nervous fella that that made me want to run out of the room, you know, rather than listen to what he had to say.

When you have a guest role, it's like being dropped into a show out of a helicopter.

I didn't want to be a soul singer.

The music comes first. Final lyrics are usually written very close to recording the vocals.

It was fun trying to use a few different voices for the vocal track on 'Country Heroes.'

I am not a singer.

I don't write; I just go in the booth.

I'm trying to get better at singing. I just want to be great vocally on stage so I can give fans a real show, like Jazmine Sullivan does.

Singers like Gladys Knight are mostly responsible for how I learned to sing.

When I went to Gabriel Roth's studio, I showed him I was good with my hands and started working as a handyman in his studio. I asked him for a chance, and he gave me a song to sing with Sharon Jones.

I've been with Rita Ora in the studio doing a song of hers. She's amazing. She's a sweetheart.