Black Thought Quotes

Rilo Kiley was a rock band, so I wanted my solo records to feel different.

I just really want to make - to be cliche about it, I want to make pretty music. Like Roy Orbison or Elvis, man. Those guys made beautiful, tender music.

I love folk. I love rap.

Generally, I like Indian music because the melodies are usually not too complex, which is how I like music, and that's the way I write music.

To me, the lyrics of the song define the kind of style it is.

I probably belong to a type of composer of songs who keeps thinking about melody... I am old fashioned.

I would say that I'm more moved by melody, even though I love to rap.

It was important for the first piece of original music that I release to have a timeless feel because that's the type of music I want to make.

My first album was very eclectic and very soft as a vocal expression.

It's interesting what a new song can do to the other songs. A new song can be the grout of the record, tie the songs together, and define a new room in the house, helping the other rooms make sense.

There's a song called 'Slip To The Void,' which is fairly long and has more of an epic approach. And I guess for lack of a better term some people might throw the progressive tag on it. I don't know if it necessarily falls into that - a few people have brought that up who have heard it.

From my early training days, I am an avid listener of heavy music which is laced with proper diction and effective use of grammar of music.

I want to keep the same kinda vibe where we've got the dance element and hip-hop. I'm going to be singing a lot more, and I want to write more heartfelt songs.

I don't really know that there's any real rules for songwriting.

I actually was consciously trying to emulate bands like Bruce Springsteen, and just trying to emulate what they do structurally.

When I began making my own albums, the songs became funkier. They were more about the streets.

That was when Neil discovered Jack Nietzsche. They went off and pretty much came up with that by themselves, but I thought it was a great song, and I was more than happy to do my harmony parts on it.

Country is bringing in a little rock element... a little '80s element. Melody is king now. But its just in the music, its not so much in the songwriting, which is still very basic to the storytelling aspect of it.

I was never just a 'fill in 16 bars on a beat' rapper. I was making real songs from the jump.

Really the only thing holding a lot of records together is the personality of the singer, and the will to write all of these different things.

The songs, if I write alone in a room, end up being a little more quiet, a little more subdued. If I play with other musicians or percussive instruments, it might end up being a little more upbeat.

I realized that, for me, great records always moved me with the lyrics and the melodies. And so I said, 'I think I can do it now,' 'cause I found a team of people who understand I didn't want a record that was 'drop it, pop it, shake it' just 'cause I can dance.

I'm not the same person as the character I do in my songs. She's crazy! The 'Daddy Song' was the first sketch I ever wrote, especially on the guitar and everything - and definitely the most offensive. And absurd.

I have always thought it was important to maintain some connection for myself to what it takes to make a song work by myself, to put a song across to an audience by myself.

I start with the subject matter I want to write about. Then I make a musical base for that and create an atmosphere with the music. Once I've done that, the lyrics come last.