Vinnie Paul Quotes

Way before we got a record deal, we were playing clubs seven nights a week, three one-hour sets a night. Then we got the record deal, and we took off on the road and stayed out.

'American Idol' was just really a platform. What you do after that is what separates you from the show. And I've been working really hard, touring constantly, and building those fans. You've got to work hard.

Being a rock n' roll star ain't a part-time gig.

When I first got the record deal, I thought it felt like I won the lottery. But I always worked hard at it.

A lot of artists feel it's not worth it to sign with a major label, because if you don't have a giganto hit, then you're not going to get a video made. You're not going to probably get much tour support. You're not going to get promotion. You're certainly not going to get a publicist who's going to pay much attention to you.

People are always coming up to me, thinking I've got some magic wand that can make them a star and I want to tell them that no one can do that. Making hit records is not that easy. But it took me time to realize that myself.

We're shooting for the title of hardest-working band in America.

Always I was dreaming of a record contract. From 10 to 13, it was all I could think of. I worked hard for this dream. Nobody could say I didn't try.

Certainly since then many people have taken a lot of those ideas and ridden them for years and years and made careers out of them. Part of that is willingness to do the kind of work that I wasn't willing to do. Get into a van and cover the country.

I paid my dues. I have crawled to gigs. I have served people coffee. I worked hard selling all these records out the back of my car. Girl, I'm ready to sell one the real way now.

I was offered seven deals from seven different major labels between 2009-2011, and to be quite honest... nowadays, you need a hit record, a great radio team, an amazing PR firm, social media, a big budget, a team that is ready to work extremely hard, and the drive and passion to win!

I've never made a dime from a record sale in the history of my record deal. I've been very happy with my sales, and certainly my audience has been very supportive. I make a living going out and playing shows.

In 1972 through '74, right before we hit it big, we were hauling our own equipment into the club and setting up and playing for, I don't know, a hundred bucks a night.

That's the beauty of country music - you have to get out there and earn it and work hard. And when you're on the road with big name acts, you realize there's no easy way to the 'Promised Land' in this business.

And it took me about 11 years to get a record deal, and I just had to work around and come to terms with the fact that what I was doing was going to be different, and I just had to wait until somebody was ready to jump on the bandwagon.

I have to work really hard to get the record deal - I have to spend years at it to get good. I have to practice to be good at guitar.

I've been really fortunate with touring and sales and all those things because I have such a loyal fan base.

I joke that we're not dissimilar to a rock band in the '70s.

I do not try to duplicate anyone's success; I am just really inspired by what they have done. I like the fact that The Roots can tour extensively, put out albums, and be so well received; that takes a lot of work. I really admire that, and it's something that I try to attain myself.

I had a great run with Ratt.

I think that becoming a successful rock band is a little like becoming a professional athlete. Nobody plans on it.

We've been playing together since we were 13, and from the age of 18, we've had a record contract. I think that we've been incredibly lucky, yeah. But we deserve it.

We never set out to be this punk rock band that's going to stay small and tour in a van forever. We wanted to take our band to a level where we could do everything we want to do.

I wanted to play in bands and get signed by a record label and tour the world and stuff, but that never really worked out.

For us, if you're a rock band, there's no way around it. You have to tour. You have to tour a whole lot.