Mark Lanegan Quotes

I started out in a professional choir at 13 years old. We traveled to different places, and I had a close relationship with the leaders of our choir. We were recording when I was 15, so it wasn't like I had to wait until 25 to find out certain things.

I love what I do, and I think I've appreciated it more throughout the years, but just to keep on traveling, keep on doing shows, and hopefully making better albums. That's always my goal.

When you research prolific songwriters, it is usually later in their career they write songs that they distance themselves from, or it's about other people.

The music industry is something that I'm still trying to understand. With acting, I've been doing it for so long that I understand every aspect of it for the most part - there are obviously still more aspects that I need to learn - but I have a grasp on it. With music, I'm still learning. I'm still getting used to it.

I'm trying to break away from doing covers or from being considered only as a YouTube star. I'm a singer, songwriter, sound engineer, and producer.

I didn't want to be a one-hit wonder. I really wanted to make albums that had a different aesthetic every album and a different sound.

I just want people to see my growth as an artist, and singer.

I never wanted to do the mixtape circuit and 300,000 people hear it and that's a chapter of my life and when I do another album I'm coming off of that chapter but the whole world didn't hear that chapter so it's like I would have to start over.

I think I never had this grandiose dream of being any country music star. I just slowly progressed into that's what I'm doing.

I think, as an artist, you definitely have to evolve. I've learned that that's very important. However, you have to stay true to yourself while also keeping up with the trends in music and this industry.

Before I was working professionally, I would do YouTube covers. But as a creative person, it was really hard for me when I wasn't releasing my own music. That felt unnatural to me.

I had been writing songs for awhile - since I was 14 - and playing guitar, but I never really knew how to go about making an actual career.

I went to college to make music and study music.

Portugal. The Man, to me, doesn't have any real ties. We try to change things up with every album, really progress, and let things happen.

Last year I was 16, it was my first round of releasing music. Since then I've been working more on having an identity as an artist and really figuring out what it is that I want to talk about and how I want to sound.

I thought I was just going to be a songwriter for other people! And now I get to put out my own music, which is amazing.

We started the band when I was about 19 or 20. At that age, it would have been kind of hard to imagine a lot of the stuff that I've written. We were playing garage rock. I wanted to dash out three chords and scream. But if you do that for 20 years, what's the point?

As a working musician, your first instinct is to try and do your job. It wasn't always my aspiration to sing; I just wanted to be a great working musician. But then Flying Lotus suggested I try, and nothing has ever been the same since.

Living in L.A. has been really good for me as a creator and musician.

Being a musician in Texas had its own set of risks.

I was actually going to go to a conservatory after I graduated college, now I'm thankful that Pentatonix happened because I'm working with singers in this realm of mainstream music, and to learn about how all that comes together has really helped my cello playing.

I grew up writing songs and producing music, and I studied music production in college.

I always grow, every album.

The first album is the prelude to the full story of Luke James. It establishes me as an artist you can look forward to.

The transition from fan to performer to recording artist, for me, was like learning how to dive... and each board got higher and higher.