Liz Phair Quotes

I don't make films for critics, and I'm not particularly interested in what they have to say, and they don't have a bearing on my audiences.

I don't like working with hitmakers. I don't want hits! You're not even allowed to say that word around me.

The one thing I'm proud of as a filmmaker is that people are entitled not to like my films - that's the privilege of the public - but I think I have my own imprint.

I only think in the following terms: writing, recording, releasing. That's what I have control of. What I don't have control is whether critics or the public like what I do.

I want to make music that I like; not something that I have to make because I think it's going to sell.

The relationship between the public and the artist is complex and difficult to explain. There is a fine line between using this critical energy creatively and pandering to it.

And frankly, when I made that record, hit songs were not what I was trying to achieve.

If a musician is making a mediocre, self-indulgent body of work, they have to know that, for the most part, people aren't going to be interested.

I mean, at the end of the day when I'm making a record, what I want to do is what I do.

When I went into the studio I created a sound that I wanted to hear.

I want people to come see my films and enjoy them, but at the end of the day you can't control what people think.

It has nothing to do with commercial success. You cannot calculate in your head how to put the mosaic together to make a commercial film: that's out of the question.

If you look at my career... I couldn't possibly have chosen those subjects if I was thinking, 'That's a great commercial idea.' I'm not aware of a great musical where someone has done that.

I suppose we'll make money off our album and our singles and stuff, but, like, they were made as we wanted them, exactly with what we had to say, and done exactly how we wanted them, right? And, like, we didn't put them out to make money. We put them out because we wanted to do them, do you know what I mean?

I just make the music feel the way I want it to feel, and I don't put it out until I'm totally happy with it.

The critics are not writers - they're not a part of the creative process; therefore, they should not influence how I go about doing my next bit of work.

I wrote 'Don't Stop' just like I wrote 'Pumped Up Kicks' - I didn't try to make either a hit. I just wanted to write a song I liked.

I don't let the fans rule my world and rule what I do, or how I do it, because as artists we give what we give and you receive how you want to receive.

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.

When I'm writing my album, it's totally my world. Even though it's myself and another producer creating the project, Conceptually it's more under my power and on my own terms. At the same time, it's a different type of pressure because I'm ultimately speaking, I'm solely responsible for the end result.

I'm a big proponent of letting songs tell me what they wanna sound like.

The worst thing you can do to anybody trying to be creative is to demand participation in their vision.

I don't ever try to anticipate my audience. I just write the songs I want to write, and hope people like 'em.

As a model, I am at the mercy of everybody else. It's much more of a situation where I go to work, put the clothes on, get in front of the camera, and then go home. But in that process, I never really have control over any of it. So, putting out a record, it's such a brilliant opportunity to be in control of things. It's my world, my music, and I can put it out there in a way that is meaningful to me.

I think if you're able to make the music you want and you can do it in the right kind of context, you don't have to be a circus ringleader to be successful.