Johnny Christ Quotes

I am not afraid of European influences. The point is to use them, as Ellington did, as part of my life as an American Negro.

I feel blessed to even be able to put out an English album. Not too many Latin artists get the opportunity to come out and record another genre that's so different to Bachata.

What I'm trying to do, in my own small way, is trying to bring African and Afro-Cuban rhythms into rock.

On occasion, I hear a rearrangement of a song that really makes me reevaluate it in a way.

The cool thing about doing a voice-over into a different language is that you get to bring the character of your own culture into it.

I'm not a salsa singer who wants to sing in English, and I'm not this American kid who wants to sing Spanish.

To me, a big crossover was what happened to me years ago, like bringing my music in Spanish to Europe, or Asia. To me, that's a crossover because Spanish is not a language that everybody talks.

I am consciously not trying to bring in World Music elements. The ways that I work and feel are completely different in how they sound than someone playing the Kora in Africa would play it.

This song 'All Aboard,' that tune allowed me to expand and kind of offer my audience something totally different because it's not bachata - I'm singing English, and that was really fun.

I like to experiment when it comes to music.

Singing in a different language is a challenge, but 'Will I See You' was so much fun to create.

No matter where you come from, if you sing in English, you can cross over to the world.

I learnt from Armstrong on the early recordings that you never sang a song the same way twice.

I am consciously trying not to make it sound Celtic or African.

The people have allowed me to - they've respected my choice of wanting to be like, a little, you know, a baby alchemist, and just trying to mix different cultures together and things that I think are interesting.

I might sing a gospel song in Arabic or do something in Hebrew. I want to mix it up and do it differently than one might imagine.

Art should not be bound by barriers or language. The Hindi film industry is a testament to that. We speak only Hindi, but we premiere in Germany and Japan. Our films do phenomenally well there. We transcend the barriers of language and culture. We welcome you in. I think that's what art should be, and I hope America reaches that place.

Our intent with Led Zeppelin was not to get caught up in the singles' market, but to make albums where you could really flex your muscles - your musical intellect, if you like - and challenge yourself.

Art is collaboration: we are artists all over the world. I believe that people are always going to watch Hindi films... that's never going to die, but I think it's amazing that collaborations like that are happening.

I think if you're going to cover a song, you should definitely take it apart and put it back together as if you wrote it. I don't think you should sing it the same way that the artist sang it - that's kind of pointless.

That, to me, is the real crossover: a mainstream artist singing in Spanish.

I'm not afraid to embrace different music and different culture and put it in the music.

The thing is: Yes, I'm white and yes, I love African music, and I can't do anything about it.

It's like, whenever I do any kind of cover, if it's a jazz piece or pop cover, I want to honor the original and make sure that the bulk and the juice of what makes that so great is there, but take it to a different place.

I've always really been a big fan of rock music. I wanted to record rock music when I was 14 or 15, but I was too young; it would have been ridiculous.