Matthew Ramsey Quotes

A lot of times, when a band finds success with a certain style or sound, they have a really hard time breaking away from that to grow as artists.

I like the pop music, but I still want to have meaning in my music.

I've seen and learned enough to keep my music fresh and spread out.

Am I the man who killed Deep Purple? I don't think so. I think every band from that era, even if you look at Led Zeppelin, if you look at their first four albums, they're extremely different from one another, and I've never made the same album twice.

I'm so happy people are seeing the eclectic side of me. I'm really honored to be able to push my voice into different sounds. Otherwise it all gets a bit samey same.

Never try to make the same record twice, even when people are screaming for the same sound.

What I'm hoping is that every album I'm going to do will give my audience something different, and that they'll grow as I do.

As an artist, you never want to write the same song again, you always want to challenge yourself to writing in a different way.

I'm content with making records, but I don't want to be doing the same thing all the time.

One of the things that always was Fall Out Boy was trying new things and kind of pushing ourselves in different directions.

I never thought of myself as being the singer that wanted to create an identity and then stick to that.

What I appreciate about Sleater-Kinney is that we did six records, and they all felt different. It was a band that was able to encapsulate different sensibilities because we were focusing on it as music and art and not as a statement.

I always want people to expect the unexpected, to hear me in records that have nothing to do with bachata. 'Golden' is the golden opportunity for them to appreciate me on other records.

I'm just expanding my sound and making it bigger.

I've been singing one kind of genre for a long time but have always tried to push to new auras about picking new songs or the same kind of genre but trying to sing it differently, treating it differently.

We always try to make each record a snapshot of the band at that time.

I think every artist reaches a place where they want to transcend genre.

We were never a frivolous band; we prided ourselves on having something to say, and I think that's what gives your songs longevity.

If you're not changing what you're doing and exploring different parts of your musical output, I think you're slowly dying.

The main thing for all of us was having a ballad, a slower song. Finally, they get to hear more of a vulnerable side to us! We didn't really have that in 'Reflection,' and that's something we all fought for.

I made 'Desert Moon' and when I made those solo albums, I was trying not to be Styx, because I thought, 'That belongs to us.' So, I made different kinds of solo albums that were not dipping my hand back into the magic Styx jar and pulling out all the tricks - because bands, they have tricks, don't they? That's what makes them different.

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.

Whether it's a song that might deviate from an artists' usual sound or even if it's still very much in their world, I think the more people opening themselves up creatively to collaborate with others, the better.

I always make a point to make my records different. Let's say I have a record that's influenced by hip-hop in an abstract way; for the next record, I'd try not to do that. They are all connected in a personal way but it's important not to repeat myself, because then I can always learn something about myself through my work.

Drawing the kind of comics that I do takes so long that to specifically address something as transitory as a political matter in it would be about as effective as composing a symphony with hopes that it would depose a despot. On top of that, I personally don't think that my version of art is the best way to deal with political issues at all, or, more specifically, the place to make a point. Not that art can't, but it's the rare art that still creates something lasting if its main aim was purely to change a particular unfair social structure.