Ian Gillan Quotes

If it turns out to be a hit, well, good luck dealing with fame. And if it's not a hit and you can still survive and make music you believe in, well, then you're truly blessed. I think that's where we are now.

You have to focus hard on recording songs that you believe in.

With a band like Shenandoah, you don't want to take things and deconstruct them to a point where you don't recognize them.

I've always wanted to make records that rock like hell. But also, I've never wanted to compromise that Country place deep inside.

I always put my best into our live performances and most of all it is always important for us to keep true to what we do as BABYMETAL.

Always focus on the music first. That's the big thing. Staying true to making good music and not sacrificing that for anything.

Jazz isn't like pop, where you sell millions of records with a hit. Your spirit and soul aren't important in pop music. But jazz is like classical music. If people like you, they'll remember you and you'll last forever.

We all make choices. Believe me, I would like to write the hit of the world. It's not like I have any desire to be in the shadows. My vision isn't marketing. Some people want to sell 6 million albums. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just not what I do. I'd rather look at a piece of work and say it's great rather than it's successful.

When I was on the big labels, I never calculated what would make me sell more records. I just did what I did -no different than when I wrote songs for myself in high-school.

I've also become much more the musician I've always wanted to be.

The expression of this idea is Queens of the Stone Age, but the idea is that you will never slack on the music and will always humble yourself at the alter of Rock.

The way we're going about things and what we want to do, we feel it has to be a really pure essence of music. That's where you get the most out of it.

In the past, I tried to be more of a typical session guitarist. I wasn't so concerned with impressing anybody.

I have a repertoire of songs that I'm proud of, that I've written for my own band. When I do a cover, something that somebody else has written, I think about it very carefully before I sing that song. I have to really get behind it and understand it and like it. And that's how I pick roles. I don't want to play just anything.

Miles Davis turned his back to the audience when he came out on stage, and he offended people. But, he wasn't there to entertain; he was all about the music. I kind of do that.

All the music that I've made in the past I've believed in. I think some of it has been more commercially successful than others, but it wasn't premeditated.

There's a higher place that I have no illusions about reaching. There's a sophistication and aesthetic about composers who only write only for the music's sake.

With this new album, I prepared for it a long time, and I was happy with the songs and the production. I felt that I proved myself with the first album, and with this new album, I just want to share some of my music. And that was always my feeling and my intention.

Maybe someday you can accuse somebody of being a poseur by selling out and playing blues music, but that's just not going to happen in my lifetime.

I was interested in maintaining the dignity and the hearts of the songs, letting them breathe and become what they are.

The message of music was also the first thing what I learned from my first teacher. She was an organist too and she was very devoted to what she played, so she had a respect for every piece and she felt that she is not allowed to add something of her own.

I remember I heard it in an interview with Michael Jackson one day, saying the art is gone, everybody makes records just to make a record. See, I always want the artist that try to build a whole body of music on one album, so you can enjoy it. So you could say, 'I went with him here, I went with him here.'

I play the real instruments. I don't waste my time with anything else.

Being in a band turns you into a child and keeps you there.

Soccer presented no challenge to me. Playing felt like breathing: I always had a magical connection to the ball. But it didn't feel like an adventure. Music was more of a challenge and, in the end, felt more interesting.