Phil Elverum Quotes

The deeper I get into my life as a musician, I'm discovering that it becomes less and less about other people, and more about what I want to do. And that's a good place to be.

I love my painting - it fills me with passion. But it's not something I expect anyone else to love.

Music is about self-expression and representing the times, and I think fashion is the same. It took me a long time to find my own style, both in terms of fashion and music.

I want to create music that moves me, not just music that is going to get me famous or make someone at a label happy.

I have never followed anyone's style of singing.

The name Dirtee Stank came from a lyric I had when I was 17 or 16. Lyrical tank, like my name was Frank, going on dirty, going on stank. It sounded like a good name!

For me, my music is part of me, and which is why it seems second nature, and my compositions are instinctive.

It's not always about huge giant commercial success. It's about art.

I'm just going to sing my music; I'm going to write my songs, and I think that people get to know me in that sense.

I'm still trying to keep it original, staying true to my sound.

The whole reason to make a solo album is to express what you can't express with the B-52s. The B's are so much about fun and partying and dancing.

I've established a certain voice over my albums. It can be an obstacle, but in the end, I think it's a strength, because I can build upon that voice, which is ultimately very much mine.

It took me a long time to find my own voice, even after I started making my own music.

An actor has to remember the primary reason why he chose the profession that he did. If every role that I do doesn't challenge me, then what is the point of being an actor?

As I was finding my musical style, I found my personal style as well, and moving from Germany to L.A. was part of that, raiding the secondhand stores in L.A. trying out different beauty themes, finding my love for huge lashes and big, long hair extensions.

Ideally, as an actor, we all crave attention, appreciation, and to be recognised. What's the point of doing it yourself? It needs to come from someone else, and when that happens, I enjoy that moment.

As a solo artist, my desire is to express myself through my music.

I don't have an audience in mind when I write. I'm writing mainly for myself. After a long devotion to playwriting I have a good inner ear. I know pretty well how a thing is going to sound on the stage, and how it will play. I write to satisfy this inner ear and its perceptions. That's the audience I write for.

I consider myself to be an inept pianist, a bad singer, and a merely competent songwriter. ... I'm probably writing music now for the same reason as I started writing songs when I was 14-to meet women. ... If you make music for the human needs you have within yourself, then you do it for all humans who need the same things. You enrich humanity with the profound expression of these feelings. ... My songs are like my kids.

I try not to think about the idea of reaching more and more people, because once you get in that mindset, I think you lose the point of why you're doing it in the first place. Still, the best feeling I ever get is when I finish a song, and it exists, and it didn't exist before, and now it's there, and it makes me feel a certain way.

Nobody wants to make something that displeases people, but once you make a film, that's out of your control and you can't think about that. You just have to follow your head and make sure that you're satisfied by putting down what you intended.

Everyone is an artist. Everyone is creative in their own way and that that creativity is a great thing. It's a human thing and it needs to be nurtured and it can help us go down life's path and help us to become deeper, richer, more satisfied human beings.

I don't make music for any other reason than me enjoying music, and I am also glad that I am able to make a living of this.

I feel like I write the same album every time but each time I try to convey the message more simply.

When I did TV shows and my other movies, I never try to do it for anybody. I just do what I think is good no matter what the genre is.