Leo Sayer Quotes

I would rather be on stage playing to 25 people with a band I love and the music I love than learning dance moves I don't want to do for 25,000 people.

The real trick to auditioning is just letting go of trying to please them. Make it your own. That took me a long time to learn.

I started off doing theater as a kid, and I always played a character. I hid behind the script and was told where to go. But to actually perform as yourself is very difficult. I didn't used to enjoy it, but now I do.

If you're a comedian, it's a bit of a choice whether or not you want to be funny when you're not performing because it might feel disingenuous. In the same way, I don't show people magic tricks in social situations any more.

I have more than one side of me that likes to get out on a stage and sing.

Onstage, you can be anything you want to be. In concert, I might project a different side of myself, but I wouldn't do anything I'd be embarrassed of.

I wasn't playing the music, the music was playing me... and once that went away, and I had the feeling I was playing music, I had to stop. The need to go onstage and get my brain flattened every night left me, and what I didn't wanna do is go onstage and perpetrate a fraud... You cannot fool an audience.

One of the great things that I loved about doing solo - which I ended up doing because I was too shy to ever try out for bands back in the day - I could sit there with a list of songs and 'paint away' for the show.

Onstage, there's no hiding; you either can or can't act. There's no second take.

There's something interesting about playing live; you're in the moment, and I think it would be beneficial.

I don't do anything specific for the stage. I'm just myself. I can't stand still for five seconds. I'm normally quite active, so that just comes out on stage. If I see people react to me and my music, I just have to give back and express myself.

I went from a playing in a bar on a bar stool for free beer and tip money, where people weren't paying attention to me, to now I've got their attention. It's up to me to what I feed them with my music. It's up to me how I do that. I've put a lot of thought into how great the songs are, and how I want people to perceive me.

I'm not that flashy in private; I'm usually pretty reserved. But on stage, it's about not being afraid of anything - of anyone judging you. It's one place you can be free. So why not sing as loud as you can, hoop and holler and jump around? A show is a moment. When it's done, it's over. I find that extremely liberating.

I don't think I would be a good actor! People enjoyed 'Dancing With the Stars' because I was myself, and every time they told me to say something, I would say my own words, so I don't think I could follow a script well!

First of all, ladies and gentlemen, you must forget that you are singers.

You don't really know a song until you play it live.

It's a constant challenge to get your arrangement and musical expression across to a new audience, especially when you're playing live every night like we are.

In recitals, you are naked before the audience - well, naked with your jacket and tails. The audience sees and hears the real person, not some role you are interpreting.

The audience changes every night. You're the same person. You have to speak your mind and do the stuff that you think is funny and makes you laugh.

I don't want to get on stage and just be another act.

I want to express my ideas through my music and on stage because I'm a musician.

For me, there's no dichotomy between being shy or a performer, because I think it's more a way of slightly presenting a version of things to the world.

Musicians want to be heard. So I'm not hiding. But I do like to leave it there onstage and be myself, in that sense. Because some people carry it with them.

On stage, I feel like I'm invincible, like nothing bad can happen. I can be myself. I feel like I shrink when I'm off stage.

You try to stay in the moment and act like you're singing the song for the first time. You try to have a good time yourself. That's the most important thing. If you're having a good time, people will join you.