F. Sionil Jose Quotes

I like to think I don't make music for ignorant people.

We simply write the kind of music we enjoy most and hope that our audience will enjoy it too.

Our music, you either get it or you don't. There's no middle ground.

I think I'm writing for an intelligent stranger - you know, in my mind I can't remember who coined that phrase first. I don't want to write anything that makes me cringe, first of all. I cringe a lot - mostly when I hear popular music.

I cannot say what I think is right about music. I only know the rightness of it.

I'm not trying to say I'm this artist who is all artsy and that I only write music for myself, because I don't. I write music for other people to enjoy, so I think about if it'd be an idea someone else would like.

I make music, and if people like it, they like it, and some people won't.

I love house music. I love all music.

In chamber music, the audience can hear each instrument and understand (and feel) what the composer and the musicians have in mind as they play.

How does my music connect to an audience? That is just a complete mystery to me.

I'm playin' the music I like.

I was a pop freak. I love music. Of course, I knew soul because I grew up in it. Writing it and everything. I love soul. But I love a tune that has some meat in it. Something I could hang my hat on. Because music is universal. Therefore, I felt no boundaries.

I like the fact that music is more abstract.

Listening is the key to everything good in music.

If you don't write good music, people aren't going to listen to anything you say.

When I hear that young people have come to the theater for the first time to listen to opera, I'm very happy. Because it's the same thing that happened to me as a child. When I first heard the tenor voice, I immediately fell in love with this kind of music.

When somebody's never heard you, that's the way to do it: Just give them music for free and let them decide for themselves if they like it or not.

Whenever you write music, you want it to touch people on a certain level. I mean, I've been reading tweets about 'Troublemaker' and people saying 'OMG, I can so relate to this - this is a guy that I fancy, or a girl that I fancy; it's exactly like this person.'

Being famous is having the power to really implement positive change in the world, and it gives you the power to do what you want. I'm really grateful for it because I can play music and people will listen.

I'm a lover of songs.

I write music people enjoy playing and listening to, and I have a group that loves playing the music.

I don't need anybody to market or promote me. If people don't want to hear this music, then it's not for them. You cannot please everybody.

I respect music, I do. I love it.

You're successful if you can get one person to pick it up and put it on the turntable and go, Wow, thanks for writing that!

For me music is pretty personal. I generally listen to it alone, and I've never been a lover of concerts. So I don't think I really bond with other people over music. That's not unique to music for me, either. I feel that way about film, television, art, everything. I read a book alone, so why wouldn't I listen to music alone?