Sufjan Stevens Quotes

I tend to start with a full set of lyrics, and then my producer, Joel Little, and I work on the music collaboratively.

There's always gonna be guys who are just wonderful singers and probably shouldn't be writing songs. Then there's always gonna be guys who move up the ranks writing. I don't know what's healthier or what's the best thing - probably whatever yields the best songs.

It's a total big difference between a person that got lyrics and a person that can make hit singles. I'm a person that can make some hit singles. I'm not in no booth trying to be a lyrical genius. I'm preparing to make me some singles, and as I develop as a man, then they'll respect my emcee skills.

I've always had a lot of creative impact on the music with Timbaland.

When I was making my first record there would be something that would come out that would inspire you, you know? You'd see someone on TV or on the radio.

If anyone asks me about the George Martin years I usually say I group all of that stuff together as the single greatest experience but I wasn't scared I was just really looking forward to it.

I dabbled a little bit in the whole music thing but I've always thought about Bernie Taupin, who is Elton John's lyricist; Elton John is the great melody and song writer but Bernie Taupin is the one who writes all the lyrics. I don't write lyrics, and I never wanted to be in the music business if I was just going to be a puppet in it.

When I am seriously composing, sometimes a phrase will come into my head, a catch phrase. When I was writing pop songs for a few years, as a career, separate from my folksinging career, I used to write songs for pop singers.

Even when I interviewed bands, it was about asking them about writing songs, so it was more for me than anybody else.

Either you write songs or you don't. And if you do write songs like I do, I think there's a natural desire to want to make records.

I'd love to work with Bruno Mars and Ryan Tedder.

When I was making the early stuff, I never expected it to be so big. I was in my own kind of bubble. I never wanted to tour; I just wanted to create music and make a diary I could put out into the world. And sometimes, I became the characters.

A lot of people don't know that before the artist, I wanted to be a writer and producer. That's always been a love of mine. Its easy for me to do it on myself, but it's fun to create for someone else.

I will write a verse or a story and bring it into a songwriting session, because that's what's big in Nashville - the collaborative part of songwriting.

I'd love to work with some of the people I've remixed for - Ed Sheeran or Chris Martin or The Weeknd. But it's not just big names like these guys that I want to collaborate with.

I know Ed Sheeran writes with a bunch of fantastic writers, but for me, it's quite difficult to be that honest with other people.

When I'm in a session with an artist, my job is to help execute their vision - so it's whatever story they're telling, and the news doesn't specifically affect that.

For 'Hey Monday,' there were songs that I co-wrote with songwriters or producers, but our last EP, the whole band did everything together. I've had a lot of experience with co-writes, which is basically what I'm doing now. I am writing things on my own, but I really believe co-writing makes you a better writer.

Working as a producer, an arranger, and, in some cases, as a writer for some other people gave me a super different perspective.

I just make videos and stuff. There's not much more to it than that. I'm a musician trying to express myself.

Working with Thug and working with Future feels the same. They don't sound like each other, but their creative process and their level of talent is the same. Anybody who knows both of them would agree.

Collaboration is a vital part of my creative life. I've had success with Guy Clark and Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash.

I don't think a lot of people know what a real artist I am. I don't think they know I write my own music.

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.

We travel so much as touring musicians and artists that sometimes, when you hear a great song that you really think could be on your project, you go ahead and record it instead of try to write it.