Julien Baker Quotes

Learn your instrument. Be honest. Don't do anything phony. There is so much crap floating around. There is plenty of room for a bit of honest writing.

Always focus on the music first. That's the big thing. Staying true to making good music and not sacrificing that for anything.

I've never believed in cheapening music by going according to what some people think is public taste.

You look at Michael McDonald and people like that; I think they just tried to write music that was true to themselves. That's our bottom line. Whatever people view us as, I think as long as we try to create good music that will win out in the end.

You can't trust an artist that just makes good records.

I was interested in maintaining the dignity and the hearts of the songs, letting them breathe and become what they are.

I don't think we were anti-commercial. But we were anti-contrivance, and like Zeppelin, we found dignity through the music we were playing.

The sincerity of delivery is what always strikes me when I hear a good band. It's artist-expression driven, as opposed to being record-producer driven. There's a huge difference. One's motivation is impure, while the other is the highest form of expression, so that's what you aim for.

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

I didn't want to do the whole, get the hottest person thing. I wanted to make sure every record felt right.

When I'm writing music, I'm not playing a character. I'm not Alice Cooper or Gene Simmons or someone like that, who has acknowledged that they are writing music for a character.

I try to make my music interesting to me first, then hopefully other people will find it interesting, too.

I never wanted to write the sort of song that said, 'Look at how abnormal and crazy and out there I am, man!'

Music's supposed to come from the heart. I felt like that if it ever got mechanical, I was going to back away from it.

The most important thing is that you honor that musical integrity, whether you make music that sounds like ABBA or you make music that sounds like Void.

I never do anything to strictly satisfy a fickle, ever-changing commercial world. I do the music I like to play. It's the only way I feel comfortable existing in the industry.

Everyone is trying to make these huge songs; I just make things that I want to listen to. Music that I will be comfortable listening to 10 years from now, that's my only thing.

The whole process of music for me is something absolutely honest and really naked and bare, so I never forced myself to write in French.

Quality isn't about where the money came from or which company gets to put their name on the thing. What matters is who made the movie and why they made it.

I just wanted to keep consistent and keep true to America and not seem contrived. I didn't want to seem contrived at all with any song choice that might be a detriment to my journey on 'The Voice.'

I'd rather sell 10,000 records that represent me than 2 million that don't represent me at all.

No book that is written for an external purpose is going to be a passionately felt book for the writer or the reader. I don't see the point in doing that.

I care so much about making things that are useful for people to have and listen to, but I don't care so much that I won't do whatever the hell I want. It's just one of those things.

When the business starts shaping the art, or the delivery of the art, then it's not right.

I think the best music is honest music.