Robbie Robertson Quotes

On 'Cardamom,' I had pretty much total control on all of the musical stuff, but I asked a friend of mine to take the picture for the cover, and I asked a friend of mine to draw the back.

An album is a whole universe, and the recording studio is a three-dimensional kind of art space that I can fill with sound. Just as the album art and videos are ways of adding more dimensions to the words and music. I like to be involved in all of it because it's all of a piece.

I've always been around musicians and always been the songwriter who doesn't end up playing the music.

I enjoy being involved in making the artwork for albums and stupid stuff like that.

All the art for Tool is done by the me and the band.

Pharrell's affected everyone through music. To work with someone like that - it's a gift. You ever meet somebody you can learn so much from, and all you have to do is be quiet and watch? That's what it was like. I took in how he moves, speaks, how he creates, the whole nine.

With 'Light,' I collaborated with a lot of different producers and musicians I respected, and we all wrote and worked on material which I then took to an old-school producer, David Kahne, and we put it all together. The lyrics came first - they were written before the music.

Back when we were first making records, you didn't just make the music, you put a great deal of energy into the way it looked, and every word that was written on the whole thing.

I had a project called 'Cover Art,' which was the first project I did under the new name Anderson .Paak. I went through this process where I was recording new music for about six months straight.

I'm not thinking about the next record really yet. I kind of want to do a bunch of stuff with Jonathan Zawada, the guy who did the album art. I'd like to do some crazy art installations and design some weird synthesizers and work with other people and make some fun stuff for a bit. Maybe tap into virtual reality stuff or maybe write another record.

I'm lucky to be collaborating with a lot of great songwriters/producers - and it's all about chemistry!

I try to devote my afternoons to making music in my home studio, but it's a lot more fun hanging out with musicians and friends, and trying subtly to influence a band than making your own stuff.

I think my music has always been a mixture, depending on whom I'm working with - what band, what musicians, what producer.

I was rather disappointed, because the one thing I wanted to gain from that opportunity was to add something to his music, and have him add something to mine.

I'm never happier than when I'm being creative, whether that's with Coldplay or other artists. I just love being in the studio.

Everything starts and ends with the song, and working with writers and really learning their process and craft was an invaluable experience.

I can't tell you how many things I've worked on where I sat on it for a few years, and then somebody else did something very similar. Whether it's some weird vocal effect you hear on another record, or a drum beat, or even a song title, a subject matter, or a mixture of different kinds of music.

I've got to be honest: I don't listen to any music now. I don't even listen to mine! I like to walk fresh into the studio and have ideas that come straight out of me.

But I'm always trying to plan ahead too and in doing so, and in working on this album, I've met a lot people that I hope to be involved with, on their records and in their situations.

I'm very, very open to experimenting with different people and trying to find different methods of writing and making music.

If someone pitches me a really great idea for an album, I would do it.

My talent is my talent. I ain't really tripping off no ego; I just like to make good music with good people.

The album cover of 'Death of a Bachelor' is me on my roof of my backyard, so that's my place where I spend most of my time writing.

Painting, music, photography, and visual art have been creative forms of expression for me for decades.

'Guava Island' is the end result of four incredible weeks spent in Cuba with some of the most inspiring creative talents I've ever met.