Amanda Palmer Quotes

When I had my first gig, I was 18 in January in 2007. My first gig that I got paid, I was playing for 10 people in a 250 people capacity venue. The promoter wanted to book me because he liked my music. I played a couple of songs that made people dance. To me, that rush has always stayed the same.

I would advise anyone starting out as a singer/songwriter to play live as much possible. You never know who might be in the audience.

When I was growing up, every show had live music. Now, almost none have live music. Probably 97 percent of the shows on television are probably synthesized, or mostly synthesized, and that's a shame.

We want people to see us live before we continue on and call ourselves recording artists.

A musician is a professional, whether he or she is successful or not. The profession itself must be regarded as a stable job.

I want to be safe in the knowledge that I can tour and play festivals for a long time. The main thing is that I want a good reputation as a live performer. If I have that, I'd be so happy.

I was in one bar band from 1965 to '69, then I was in another one from 1970 to '79 - a 9-year bar band!

But I'm able to just keep going, and that's the challenge. It's the next song. And then just enjoying the shows and people who come out to the shows. It's pretty organic, really.

The 'Daryl's House' thing has made me into a live musician even more than I ever was, and even in the way I record.

Music is a performance and needs the audience.

You find yourself approaching middle age, playing another scuzzy rock club.

I never get tired of performing to people who want to hear me. Hell, that's my handshake to the world. I'm doing just what I've wanted to do since that day I was 15 and heard Lenny Breau play the guitar.

But if you want to be a songwriter-based musician, whether you play punk or rock or country or jazz, whatever, you have to work on your songwriting and you have to work on being able to play in front of people, I think. That performance is how you create the groundwork for a lasting career.

I love nothing more than to perform my songs in front of a live audience. And whatever I'm doing is driven toward finding or writing songs and putting out hit songs that drive people coming to see me live. Because, at the end of the day, that's what I enjoy the most.

I have never done any other job. I have sung in bands since I was 15. I left school completely unqualified. I have no other training.

I never go back and listen to the recorded document. The thrill comes when the balance can be attained. Everyone in the room can have a shared, communal rock experience.

My dream has been to have my rock band behind me, play live, and entertain.

People are already finding ways to make their music and play it in front of people and have a life in music, I guess, and I think that's pretty much all you can ask.

There is nothing to compare with the instantaneous feedback a singer gets from the people sitting in front of him. That is where it all comes together - all the rehearsing and working to get everything just exactly right.

I love playing live, I don't like studios all that much. I need the reaction of the audience.

I've been playing music since I was 12. I love performing live.

I'm so far removed from live playing any more.

All I've ever wanted to do was play music and go on the road and make records.

Trying to get my music performed live by bar bands was a self defeating experience. It really just distracted me from what I should've been doing all along, writing and recording.

This business is about working. It's really not about glamour. For me, the most glamorous thing about it is to b able to get on stage and perform my music for people. That's the privilege. And that's what all the work leads up to, and that's why it's worth it to me.