Devin Townsend Quotes

Be like Sasha Fierce. Be like Miley Cyrus. Be like Rihanna. Be like Lady Gaga. Be like Rita Ora and Sia. Be like Madonna. I cannot be like them, except to the extent that they are already being like me.

I'd been so heavily influenced by Em, but artists that don't grow out of that don't go anywhere. Ultimately, I came to understand that what Eminem stood for above all else was 'be yourself.'

I feel like the point of being an artist is to have your own voice: to do it the way you would do it and not the way anyone else would do it. If you're a strong enough writer, then that voice is going to come out all the time, and I can't stop it from coming out, no matter what I do.

I feel like it's important, especially at young age, to find exactly what it is that makes your style so important as opposed to just trying to fit into the iconic styles of performers out there.

He has found his style, when he cannot do otherwise.

Well, I've had a lot of different experiences in music over the years. And not everything you do can satisfy everybody's idealised version of you.

I think there's always this idea in your head, but you have to allow the film to take its own course.

There were times in my career when I would try to write songs like Bob Dylan... Artists get hooked up in that. To be a follower, you lose.

I have many musical inspirations, but I would really love to just be me. My very own artist.

But at a certain point, you have to take your influence and find your own voice if you want to become a relevant artist.

To me, what makes an artist is a unique personality that they're not afraid to let show.

At WSX I think I was very much trying to figure it out on my own and we were creating our own style and our own thing. I can only speak for myself, I was not trying to be anything. I was not trying to be like anyone else.

The moment you start thinking about what other people and other artists think, you're going to start writing like other people.

It's just I do things differently and I want people to appreciate music for what it is, and not because of a story.

I'm now able to show who I am as an artist.

I'm just trying to be myself - make music how I make music.

You should be able to do you. That's what differentiates an artist from a singer.

The late 80s was quite a difficult time for me as an artist because I'd almost become a parody of myself. All people wanted was pink hair and for me to sing 'I Want to Be Free.' There's nothing wrong with either of those but people need to see you as a person for you to be an artist.

I don't even really try to do something different. I just do what's authentic to me.

Don't worry if people think you're good. Make this your experience. And find out what makes you unique as an artist. You don't get the opportunity to do that as much in the real world.

How many of you are creative? I don't know, but for me, when you make a bunch of things over time and then you keep them... you forget. I look through my sketchbooks and I'm an audience for myself.

I grew up with synthesizers and weird, spacey music-hip-hop, R&B, modern rock-that I heard on the radio. That's influenced the way I play music. It's natural for me to go with what I feel. If I didn't let that other stuff out and stuck to a certain format, I would feel like I was missing out on something. I'm just enjoying my ride and being who I am.

They are always asking a writer why he does not write like somebody else, or a painter why he does not paint like somebody else, quite oblivious of the fact that if either of them did anything of the kind he would cease to be an artist.

I think perhaps I've learned to be myself. I have a theory that all artists who would be important - painters and writers - must learn to be themselves. It takes a very long time.

I used to sing like Nat King Cole. I mean he was the guy when I was comin' up, and you know, man, people used to say of me, "Damn, he sure do sound like Nat King Cole." But there was a day, and luckily for me it was early, when I woke up and asked myself, "Well, when are the ask me to sing because I sound like me?" So my advice is, never do anything that you don't like.