Kelela Quotes

I was really sick of bands just ignoring the audience as a posture in rock music. And I think we fed off each other in terms of trying to engage the audience, not in a hammy way, but actually trying to be aware of the space that you are playing in and trying to connect in some way through the music.

Music is a performance and needs the audience.

The difference between a theatre with and without an audience is enormous. There is a palpable, critical energy created by the presence of the audience.

There is nothing to compare with the instantaneous feedback a singer gets from the people sitting in front of him. That is where it all comes together - all the rehearsing and working to get everything just exactly right.

I like working on stage because there's something very immediate about it, that interaction with an audience where you immediately hear their reaction, or feel them, whether they're with you.

You're very aware in the theater by the response you get, but not so much on television, obviously.

I feed off the audience a lot, their energy.

I like to see other bands, and I like to hear their songs, but I really like it when they engage the audience.

It's hard not to be affected by the live audience.

The feeling you get from playing to a good audience is hard to describe without sounding as though you are talking silly. But reaction is important. You might feel in yourself that you're doing it ok but it's when you get the live reaction that you know you're doing it right.

One of the many reasons why I love stand-up so much is when you're performing, you get instant feedback. You know if stuff is working right away.

Music - you need the give and take from the audience, the feeling of attention. It's not about me: it's about the music itself.

I love storytelling and I love just relating directly to an audience. That's why we do theatre, it's because we love contact with the audience. We love the fact that the audience will change us. The way the audience responds makes us change our performance.

Just going on the road and entertaining the fans, that's amazing.

When I finished performing 'I Won't Give Up' for the first time, I opened my eyes, and I think there was maybe six people in there when I started, and when I finished there was about 30 people, all standing around with their jaws dropped in complete silence. I said, 'Okay, I think this song has some power to it.' So coffee shops work for me.

I can't imagine playing a boring gig. Like, a boring audience without reaction, I will play against them.

If you play a tune and a person don't tap their feet, don't play the tune.

This is the way I wanna die. Torn apart by angry fans who want me to play a different song.

There's something about small venues that's amazing for developing material. It's almost like you can not only hear people's response, but you can understand it. In bigger venues you lose that, but you gain this sense of camaraderie in the audience.

To go on the road and see people sing my own lyrics back to me is just fantastic.

I don't know, on a sitcom, and in theatre especially, you have to really be listening to an audience. And if you're losing them, you can hear the sniffs, and the playbills shuffling and whatnot.

I'm very proud of my records, but my most natural creative tendencies have been in live performing. There's a beautiful element to recording and making records, but I've always felt a little shy with it.

A stage actor has to be 10% aware of the audience as he's performing.

We like reactions - a reaction is walking out on us, a reaction is throwing tomatoes at the stage, that's a healthy psychological reaction.

When you put the musical in front of an audience, you get to see how the audience reacts.