Oliver Sykes Quotes

I never necessarily played the music I listen to. I've always liked a lot of soul, roots-reggae, alternative psych-rock, and I feel like, with age, that's kind of come.

I grew up listening pretty much just to pop music. But the older I've gotten, the more varied my musical tastes have become.

As I've gotten older, as I've gotten familiar with all different types of music, stuff that I didn't like when I was younger I actually kind of like now.

As a kid I was super into all kinds of pop. It wasn't until I became a teenager that I moved more into alternative music and punk rock.

My mum and dad used to listen to a lot of R&B and soul, so this was the way I grew up. Hip-hop, of course. But then as I grew older, I started listening to everything.

It's nice to be able to backtrack and not be embarrassed by the music you used to listen to.

Growing up, I didn't really like folk music - I wasn't a fan of Bob Dylan. I grew up mostly listening to rap and hip-hop; it was this new form of music.

That's something - you laugh about Eminem... It's funny, man, because I didn't like him when he first came out, ya know. It seemed like a big joke. But I think the guy's for real, and I like his lyrics!

If you went to see me today, you might not like my music.

If you got in my truck, you were listening to country music, and that's the way it was for a long time. I'm a little more open to other sources of music now, a lot more. But for the formative years, I was just very into country.

As soon as I got into country music, it was like hook, line and sinker. I was so focused on country, I ended up leaving all those '80s hair-band CDs behind - which now I still wish I had, but I was done with it.

I don't think I listen to anything that I did when I was 17. I've changed a great deal.

Music is entirely subjective. I was thinking that for myself, for songwriting and what I like to listen to, to help motivate me as a songwriter, as a musician, there are certain things I lean towards and certain things I don't.

Most people my age, their musical life ended in the '80s. They stick with what they know. But my tastes are much broader. And I don't want to stop learning.

As you get older, some top notes drop off and bottom notes appear, which I quite like. You listen to Leonard Cohen or Johnny Cash, and you see the advantage of the lower end.

The way I evolved was playing straight-ahead jazz into playing more fusion-type stuff just because I was young enough to get into it. As I get older, I find myself coming back to where I kind of started.

In my 30s, I became more open to music other than country or bluegrass.

If some people don't like funk music then it's just the wrong time for them. They will get it. It's addictive.

I listen to some really bad country.

Everyone's gonna have their opinion, everyone's gonna have their favorite bands. The best way I can describe it is music is like food, either you love it, hate it, or are indifferent about it. Or you grow up and acquire a taste for it.

You used to defend your musical values to the hilt, but now if something isn't working, you just hop to another band. My youngest daughter went from Justin Bieber to the Jonas Brothers to Joy Division in the space of a few months!

One thing I love about Lady Gaga is I feel like her sound is always evolving and changing with her and her phases of life.

I personally wouldn't want my second album to sound like my first; it might sound very rocky or hard rock - and that wouldn't be melancholy. So if people think my music is melancholic, then so be it. It's meant to be uplifting, and I'm just basically saying what needs to be said.

It's funny: here I am, a guy who plays in one of the world's biggest classic-rock bands, and to tell you the truth, I listen to classic rock the least.

Music is like wine, it ages beautifully - and if you spend enough time you can just sit there and listen to it entirely differently.