Al Jarreau Quotes

I asked my friend Greg Andersson to introduce me to people that can distribute my album.

You know, I didn't have enough money to quit my day job... the myth of the major label deal. Nowadays, you have a tour bus and a stylist and all this stuff. But back then, no way.

So there was a way for you to get promoted and survive as an artist without worrying about AM radio hits.

I feel like I'd like to continue putting out records and start putting them out more rapidly than I have until now and for me if I can keep selling the records to the fans that already like me that's fine.

I'm working on my new album right now. Hopefully to get that out at the top of 2005, January 2005.

I knew that it was my only shot to be taken seriously in the recording industry, because it's fast and broad.

There's timing. And then there's also certain people at the record company who worked incredibly hard and were incredibly enthusiastic about what I was doing.

I'm just going to tour; that's the best way for people to get to know me. Focusing on the international stuff and breaking in to the States and U.K.

I love having a major label behind me. Independent was really great to start off, as and I made some really big moves and gained a lot of fans.

If you want to release your own single, there cannot be a better launch than going to Los Angeles and collaborating with a renowned artist.

Working with Tesco has been such an interesting avenue to go down that I'm keen to find other avenues to release music.

I don't really know what a debut album is no more. As long as you got music on the streets, you've debuted.

I know a lot of people who jumped into a record label right away, dropped an album, and then nothing happened for them. Build your fan base first, and follow your gut.

I just think that any person who wants music to be their career shouldn't focus on a record label. I have seen friends who sign to a label too early in their career, and they lost control over their music, and their releases were delayed or never put out.

Success came to me in my late 20s. I started touring when I was a teenager, so I had already seen the good, the bad, and the ugly side of the music business. Plus, setting up my own record company taught me a lot.

I had never released any music until 'Bruises' came out when I was 20.

Even though I haven't released a song since 2010, I have still performed, so I don't feel I have been completely away from music. I have been away on a mainstream level, of course. But releasing a single this way - on my own independent record label - is more fun.

You need a platform upon which to release an orchestral record, otherwise it's just going to be an obscurity.

There are three things we need to do for a band. We need to make a great record; we need to get the record played; and we need to find an audience for the live shows.

Most of the people I know in bands, all they are concerned about is getting to do the next record.

I'm consistently recording and releasing stuff online or YouTube videos or whatever it is. I just don't know if it's going to be a full on, I'm the next Rihanna, or whatever. I'm not going for it to that level. But I love making music and I don't think I could stop if I wanted to.

The label doesn't do anything but put your record in the store, that's all they do. And tell you, you don't have a single... and tell you, it's not gonna sell... that's what the label does.

I'm overly excited to finally announce this amazing global partnership deal back home with EMI Music. I know I have mentioned doing music in the past but for legal reasons I was not in a position to release any new music.

I was kicked off a record label and didn't get picked up again. It was devastating at first because I thought, 'Oh my God. My career is over. What's gonna happen? What am I going to do?' Once I got that I could have a career, a very good career, without having a hit record, then I changed.

When you don't have a record label and you have been on your own as we have, you can look at all these other ways you can get in touch with other people and get music out there again.