Gene Simmons Quotes

I loved the Brazilian music I played. But this is finally me. For the first time I think it's really me.

Everything I record, I just try to sound like me and come up with songs that suit what I do, and then just go for it.

I tend to play in a way that feels natural to me. To me that's authentic for myself. I play by where I'm led by some sense of where I feel I'm supposed to be.

On the first album I was saying, that's just one part of me. And then I was thinking, well, am I going to hide the rest of me now just because I'm afraid of something? No. I'm just going to be myself.

There's art in rhythm playing. Just find it. Make your own art. Find your place, and when it's your time to solo, it's your time to shine.

So it's not so much that I set out to do something different, it's just that the songs themselves require their own individual voice and attention.

Labels don't mean anything to me. I'm trying to play as passionately as I'm able to. If they want to call that cool, that's fine. Just spell the name right, is the formula.

As a singer I tried on all these hats, these voices, these clothes, and eventually out came me.

When I started writing, I just wanted to do something different and creative. I first thought neo-soul was a good pathway for me, so I tried that out but realized I didn't want to be placed in that box.

There's something about YouTube, where you're not being anybody but yourself. You have the opportunity to start as yourself from the very beginning. From the very first video, you choose what you say, and you choose what's right and wrong for your presentation of yourself.

Just really be yourself, and if being yourself means you play two snare drums and nothing else, then play two snare drums and nothing else! Really figure out who you are and how you want your drums to feel because it's a very emotional instrument.

I mean, if you decided to go out today and get you an instrument and do whatever it is that you do, no one can tell you how you're going to do it but when you do it.

Just stick to what you feel you sing best at, no matter what it is.

To me, that's what music entails. It's freedom, it's having the undeniable confidence to express yourself in a way that you know is right.

I'm in a band. I'll do what I want.

I write songs as honestly as I can without worrying about genres or labels. Sometimes I sing, and sometimes I rap, and sometimes I do something in between. I jump around on stage and don't care too much about how I look. I try to be myself even though I'm still figuring myself out.

Music was never an obligation for me; from a very young age, I understood it as a moment of freedom where you could express yourself. I realized how much joy it could bring and how much that meant to me.

If you're going to play bass, then play bass how you play bass. You can learn technique and theory, but we want to hear what you have to offer.

One thing I've learned is that the best thing a producer can do is help you be you.

I figured out that it was important for me to have my identity, just live independently and like being myself, musically.

I've been telling my students, 'Imitate, imitate.' And they say, 'Well, what if I plagiarize, or what if I'm not original? I want to be myself.' And I always tell them, 'Your self will shine through'... If you allow yourself to feel deeply and honestly, what you say won't be like anyone else.

Jazz stands for freedom. It's supposed to be the voice of freedom: Get out there and improvise, and take chances, and don't be a perfectionist - leave that to the classical musicians.

The way that I've always gone about making music, the rule of thumb, has just been to make what I love.

I wanna be more like the Rihanna kind of, Beyonce kind of thing, but I don't want to compare myself to anybody, because I wanna be somebody new, too.

So the thing is to put out music for music's sake.