Mat Kearney Quotes

A lot of things encouraged me to start my label. I think it's very important for an artist to know how many records they've sold and where they've sold. I know that I have never been treated the way I'm supposed to be treated - like an artist. That's why I do things for myself. I feel like I'm a free man.

I'm pushing ahead on my own - you no longer need a large record company to make you a star.

You don't need a record company to turn you into anything.

I don't have a record deal, I'm not looking for one, I don't have a manager, I'm not promoting anything.

You can now be a master of your own destiny. I'm not sure why you would sign up with a record label.

I made this record without a record label.

I always thought that if record companies didn't understand me, fine - I'd go and do it by myself.

When I got into the music industry, I wasn't focused on being the most famous artist or even getting a major record deal. It was just to make music on my own terms or create my own image, do my own hair, do my own makeup.

I never solicited a major label and I certainly wouldn't now.

I started my own record label.

I didn't want to be on a major label. I wanted all the attention and the noise to go away because I wanted to be something a little bit more substantial.

Basically we just created our own label, but again we just did it to document our own music and create our own thing, so the major labels were just always out of our picture, we're not interested.

Commercial success still hasn't come to an artist that isn't signed to a record label. There are very few artists that can succeed without the help of a record label. The role of the record label is still required, it's still necessary.

I was an artist, I was executive producer on my first album, so I've always had to manage both. I couldn't get a record deal. It wasn't by choice - I couldn't get a record deal, so I had to figure it out.

Attention, it just comes and goes. Since we don't have a major label, it's like, what are we gonna do next? You have to make your own decisions.

I have my own label and I'm my first artist.

People talk about the pop part - they don't talk about me being an independent artist. I made it look easy, that's the problem!

I want to be role model for people to be like, 'I don't need a major label to be a successful artist and to have a successful song.'

I certainly don't want to be a record label guy.

At 13 years old, I realized I could start my own band. I could write my own song, I could record my own record. I could start my own label. I could release my own record. I could book my own shows. I could write and publish my own fanzine. I could silk-screen my own T-shirt. I could do this all myself.

I wanted to put out a solo record because I was stuck on a major label and sick of it.

I never had many problems to do my music and to give it to a record company. Rarely do they try to argue with me about my music, probably because it's still too far-out.

A lot of very popular mainstream artists are products of record companies and marketing companies, and any time anyone can stand outside of that, that's interesting.

I should be the one to say what I do. It's just not done that way anymore in Nashville, and I can't do it the other way. That's how our record label came about.

I'm one of the few that comes from this vantage point: I never tried to get a record deal.