Henry Mancini Quotes

I wrote songs with the guys from Air Supply for their record... So I was just writing songs.

Whenever I fill out the job description I put 'songwriter', never 'singer' or 'artist.' Singers come and go.

I know what it takes to put a record together, so I'm not looking for people to come in and shape it.

I've just always been around great songwriters. To me, they were the standard.

As a songwriter, I listen to everything to be inspired... from Rihanna to Bruno Mars to Springsteen to Johnny Cash.

Whenever I have time, I try to get in the studio and write, whether it's for me or other artists or my catalog of music. It's definitely one of my favorite parts of the music industry.

Growing up as a singer, and a cast member, and now as an adult, a songwriter, I get the luxury of choosing the kinds of songs that I want to sing, because I'll write, you know, hundreds of songs. Even though only 12 appear on the album. That's 12 that I've chosen to sing of my catalog.

I did this thing with Trisha Yearwood, a song called 'The Price.' I had been sitting on it for a while, because I figured, you know, this really needs a good singer.

I've never forgotten a single record I cut or a song I wrote.

I stopped writing lyrics down on paper after me and Jay-Z did 'Money In the Bank.' They're something I just hold in my mind.

I like producing myself, I like other people producing, I just like it all.

It was actually working with Kendrick Lamar that pushed me further into the act of songwriting, specifically.

Most of our artists are songwriters, so the songs are still central to all this. If you don't have great songs, it doesn't matter the marketing or how many times you are on TV; you can only polish it so much.

My first album after 'American Idol' I did with Desmond - we paid for it together, and we literally were together working on it every day for a year and half, just writing. We wrote in New York, Nashville, L.A., Sweden - we wrote with some other amazing songwriters like Diane Warren, too.

Being a songwriter, my job is just to write songs for people. I'm not attached to them.

I live a normal life. But I'm always thinking about what I'm going to do next, musically. 'Do I need a fresh producer? What was Peter Gabriel doing when he was 32?'

I'm also working on a track for Howard Hewett, and a theme for a new NPR show.

Even if I don't release it myself, somebody else might hear it and want to record it. When you write a song, it gives it that potential.

I didn't want to be a solo Westlife - covers and ballads - and the reason I signed with Capitol Records was because they wanted me to write songs myself. It was pretty scary, but they put me in a studio in Nashville with some new songwriters, and the results were pretty good.

You know, there's still a lot of great songwriters out there who hand in songs. And there's a lot of brilliant singers and performers out there who sing other people's words. I enjoy doing both.

I'm free to make music - I'm sitting on about 40 or 45 new songs that I can't wait to put out.

But I love to write music. What I would love to do is give some of the songs I write to someone like Taylor Swift because I feel like she could sing them.

There's still a lot of great songwriters out there who hand in songs. And there's a lot of brilliant singers and performers out there who sing other people's words. I enjoy doing both.

I just love singing, songwriting and touring.

I produced a song for Bobby Vee called Get The Message.