Ed Kowalczyk Quotes

When I put out 'Video Games' in May 2011, it was a 5:25-minute love song; I was surprised when a lot of people said they were listening to it. I was surprised when it went to the radio, without me even knowing how something like that even happens!

But I never had that commercial opportunity to be played on the radio, so how could I be popular?

Artists don't always know. Almost every song I ever recorded that was a hit at the majors that the promotional people picked I didn't think it would be a hit. I was wrong every time!

Nobody ever knows how big a song is going to be.

I'm not concerned at all to have a number one song or a top 10 or top 50 or top whatever.

For songs to be big, I don't think there's a certain formula to it.

I figured the songs wouldn't make much of a splash. I didn't think 'Take Me To Church' would play on the radio or get in the charts, and I didn't think about dealing with a global audience.

If you look at the charts every year, there may be five or ten memorable songs from each year.

Now there is a new group every week; it seems like everybody and anybody can get into the charts.

People spend their careers trying to figure out what makes a hit single. But I learned a long time ago that you can't anticipate what people want, because it's always going to change.

In England, rock music very rarely infiltrates the charts, but country music even less so.

If I tried to make a commercial album, it would be a complete flop. I have no idea what the world at large likes.

I don't know if a song is going to be a hit or it's going to flop. I never know. I just do the music and if people like it, they like it.

You can keep rummaging around until you find a song you like, but you can't predict whether it'll hit or not.

I was successful with mediocre material because of a good recording voice that people really liked at that time.

I was really amazed when I started hearing 'Songbird' on the radio. I couldn't believe that the record company promotion department had actually convinced radio music directors to play it -because there wasn't anything like it on the radio at the time.

People get passionate about a song. It's been my experience if you put out radio candy, something commercial, it doesn't sell records.

Even the bands I dig don't have a history of attaining mass consumption.

Crossfire's done very well. I knew it was a great song, but I didn't know it would be so big.

If I have a hit, then I hope the people who like the hit song go out and buy my album so they can hear it all.

If there is a good musical reason, I think it might draw more attention and sell, though it is not guaranteed. To make a record without a musical reason, you have to either be a pop star who sells automatically or just be lucky.

Pop is the most competitive form of music there is. You are always fighting to be adopted and accepted by the masses, and it's always shifting.

When I started playing music, people weren't selling 5 million records. That was not the standard; that was not the focus.

We don't go around the world counting ticket and record sales, nor do we glue our ears to the radio to hear what's trendy at the moment - we're not that type of band.

I have to write pretty songs; that's what gets them on the charts.