Johnny Van Zant Quotes

Friends of friends had bands in college or in their early 20s and had a moment where they had some kind of interest from a record label or manager. It's always interesting how people handle those decisions and those moments.

I was signed to A&M, I was signed to Lou Adler, who had a company within a company, which was A&M Records, and everything - James Taylor, Rita Coolidge, Carole King - I worked on all of that stuff.

I was kicked off a record label and didn't get picked up again. It was devastating at first because I thought, 'Oh my God. My career is over. What's gonna happen? What am I going to do?' Once I got that I could have a career, a very good career, without having a hit record, then I changed.

He asked my girlfriend if we could come over and sing some of the songs that we had written, which we did. After he heard the songs, he said that he knew someone in the record business by the name of Bob Shad.

I came to California and got signed at a young age. And it's not like you see in the movies, where you start rubbing shoulders with Timbaland and Pharrell, and you become a giant pop star.

I was living in London with my brother, and he was a friend of Matt Marshall, who signed Tool. So we were the first people over in Europe to get the first Tool demo in 1991, and me and my brother immediately cottoned on to it.

I got really noticed by record labels and that's how I got signed.

I had the most incredible experience of my life being signed to Cash Money.

When I was 13, I was saying that I wanted to be signed to a label. I was begging my dad to get me signed with somebody.

It was actually really hard to get a record deal after 'American Idol.'

I wanted to play in bands and get signed by a record label and tour the world and stuff, but that never really worked out.

There are a lot of undiscovered world-class bands across Asia, and we want to find them, help fulfill their dreams, or at least give them initial exposure.

I put a song on Soundcloud, and Annie Mac made it record of the week, and a month later, I signed my record deal.

To be honest, when you grow up in the music business, people heard me sing from a young age, and you get offered development deals and things like that.

I started as a writer and when I sent my demos out everyone wanted to know who was singing and if that person wanted a record deal.

There are people that bring artists to me to look at it and it's a question of whether I like their music and their look and if I think there's something they have that makes them different and commercial.

Most of the people I know in bands, all they are concerned about is getting to do the next record.

I started my music career at 18 and for a long while I let other people handle my affairs.

I'm really happy with Elektra, I don't have anything bad to say about them at all. I always knew a major label was the right place for me to be. I never really had an opportunity to go to an independent label anyway.

So there was a way for you to get promoted and survive as an artist without worrying about AM radio hits.

Artist development is something that I've been passionate about from my days at Uptown and Motown Records.

To come out in the music business, you only really get one shot. A lot of people get to play small gigs first, and build up that way, without anyone really seeing them.

Apollo Records signed me for my gospel ability.

An artist don't make you bigger than life - being that person that can break artists can make you bigger than life.

Well, I tried to get a record deal in 1966 or '67, and everyone thought I was too eclectic.