Jim James Quotes

Tom would bring in songs, Mike would engineer, and we recorded about 30 songs.

I still like to keep tapes of the few minutes before the final take, things that happen before the session. Maybe it's superstitious, but I believe if I had done things differently - if I had walked around the studio or gone out - it wouldn't have turned out that way.

They're mostly done before we went into the studio, although I do like writing in the studio.

If I'm writing for a particular artist, I definitely think about their past records, pay attention to the type of tempos that they like. If I have the privilege of actually being in the session with the artist, I just like to have a conversation with them.

That said, everything's important, and every musician who plays on the record is an integral part of it.

With music, you're working with a producer, and you walk out of the studio six hours later with a track that's almost completely finished. There's an almost immediate payoff.

When I get in the studio the idea is just to work and bang out as many as I can.

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

I just sat down and thought, I'm going to write a song today, I'm going to give it a try. So I just stuck it on a tape like everything else. That was just another song.

I wouldn't go into the studio if I didn't have a band who's ready, willing, and able.

I look forward to the future - and going into the studio to make new music.

'Float On' was a fine song, but I was still writing the lyrics on the last day we were working on it and deciding if it was something we wanted to put on the record.

Usually, in the studio, on this sort of thing... you just go out and have a play over it, and see what comes, and it's usually - mostly - the first take that's the best one, and you find yourself repeating yourself thereafter.

I really like the thing I did with Martina McBride. I had that song sitting around for a long time.

The studio is really fun because I don't make it into the studio unless I've got something I really like. I love working with different musicians in the studio; that's a real joy, working with someone for the first time.

Usually, when you go in to make a record, you have 30 songs, and you record 30 of them, and 12 of them make it to the record.

As far as arrangements after the basic track is cut, if I'm writing a horn arrangement or playing strings, I might arrange that, plan that out. Other times, I'll just sit and roll tape.

I think we did our first session in 1958. There were no black background singers - there were only white singers. They weren't even called background singers; they were just called singers. I don't know who gave us the name 'background singers,' but I think that came about when The Blossoms started doing background.

We just did a few takes of a song and just picked the best one. It was real organic and genuine.

I remember rehearsing it, and it was the one that we were really excited about and thought would sound the best, and once it was down on tape, it was like, This doesn't actually sound that good.

There are artists that actually don't like going into the studio. They get mad when people say they've got a session. I'm just the opposite. I actually enjoy it.

To me, being in the studio is one of the most exciting parts about being an artist.

It's very important when you in the studio to be with a confident creative.

Whenever I go into the studio, I'm like, 'Guys, we're probably not going to get an uptempo out of this!'

With me and YG, he could rap a hook, and I could make a beat around it. Ten minutes, we done.