John Gourley Quotes

I don't care if it's Dr. Dre or Dr. Luke or Brian Eno. When you're in a studio and making music together, it becomes pretty apparent if you see eye to eye.

You kind of have to have no ego to be a producer and a songwriter.

Salim-Sulaiman have always been my favourite. It's just an absolute pleasure working with them, and there's always something new you get to learn just by sitting in their studio and absorbing all that's happening around you.

I don't play any instruments. I don't produce. I don't know which keys or chords I am using, so, in essence, I need the band and the production team - otherwise, I am just some guy with a hat and a song.

I don't write all my stuff. Everybody always thinks that. But in just about every album I've ever had has been about 50-50 songs I've written or co-written and other people's songs.

I'm not a great guitarist, but I do bits and bobs. I'm mainly a songwriter and a composer. I've done a lot of scoring and some stuff for British pop music that did pretty well, but I've mainly been working on my own stuff with Duncan Sheik.

I'm a record producer and songwriter; I'm a problem-solver.

You know, there's still a lot of great songwriters out there who hand in songs. And there's a lot of brilliant singers and performers out there who sing other people's words. I enjoy doing both.

I've always been around musicians and always been the songwriter who doesn't end up playing the music.

I learned a lot from that first record and I learned a lot from my experiences touring, but really the biggest education I got over the past two years was learning the importance of arrangements.

I'm a producer/rapper, so I feel like I can do anything. I can do all kinds of music. I've done all kinds of music, and I'm good at it.

There's still a lot of great songwriters out there who hand in songs. And there's a lot of brilliant singers and performers out there who sing other people's words. I enjoy doing both.

I get to focus on being a musician sometimes, and I get to focus on being a vocalist sometimes.

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

I like working with other people but I'm not a songwriter, I'm a producer.

I didn't know anything about music when I started a band. I barely knew how to play a guitar. I didn't know how to produce records. I learned how to play bass guitar and keyboards in Rilo Kiley. I picked up a lot from my collaborators.

Everything starts and ends with the song, and working with writers and really learning their process and craft was an invaluable experience.

Music is a passion of mine, so I also want to continue along that path, creating with my friends.

I'm working on a screenplay right now for the BBC, but I hope to have the decks cleared soon so I can get into the studio with my pals and put down some more tracks, try to get a strong dance single together.

A lot of people don't do this. You can count on a couple of hands probably how many artists also produce and write, both for themselves and for others, and are able to be successful at both things.

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.

For 'Dynamite,' Max and Luke went to dinner and left me with a melody, and then I put it together.

It's been thrown up to me most of my life: Why don't I just concentrate on conducting or composing or my own playing or on jazz?

That's one of the reason T-Bone Burnett calls me... he thinks I'm used to doing what I do in the studio for him.

The real producers back in the day didn't sit there and play every single instrument. They made sure the record had the best performance out of everyone involved possible.