Hiromi Uehara Quotes

It's not all the time, but you get a sense when you're reading something that it's no longer about boxing or the performance. It's personal.

The great thing about a record is it frees your imagination; it gives your eyes a rest and lets your mind wander. There's the special thing that each record can mean a different thing to every person listening to it.

I make my songs slightly abstract so that people can interpret them their own way. I think that's a lot more special, so you can hear a song and think, 'I feel exactly that way,' even if it wasn't written for that feeling.

I let people fill in the blanks on their own. If they want to think about their ex, that's fine. If they want to think about maybe who one of my exes is, then that's fine. And it might not be right, because I'm the only one who knows what these songs are really about. It's the one shred of privacy I have in the matter.

A lyric has to mean something to me, something that has happened to me.

However far fiction writers stray from their own lives and experiences - and I stray pretty far from mine - I think, ultimately, that we may be writing what we need to write in some way, albeit unconsciously.

For me, all the materials and objects I employ come from a specific space that's very personal.

There's never been anything I didn't love that I didn't connect with on a personal level because, to some degree, I projected upon it.

I'm not saying that I am all of my characters, but for me to bring a character to life, you've got to be able to find your own truth.

The video forum for me has been a source of great consternation because once you start projecting a look to a song, it robs the listener of their ability to adopt that song and make the lyric their own.

Recording is more autobiographical than acting. It's me - either how I'm feeling then or once felt at some point in my life. It's all me.

With most of the songs and music that I've composed, irrespective of the myriad videos made, I was always careful not to overly define the experience, leaving room for people to internalize things for themselves, making their experience more integral.

There are always parts of me that come out in the characters that I play - it's the only thing I have to work with and to draw off of.

I think if a character appeals to you, there are certain parts of yourself will come to the fore and other parts that will play down.

I can't play anything until I find something that connects to my life, something I can carry as my secret map or code for the character.

The songs are about things that we were thinking and we wrote 'em down, and when you listen to 'em, whatever you think it's about... THAT'S what it's about!

Acting is a very personal process. It has to do with expressing your own personality, and discovering the character you're playing through your own experience - so we're all different.

People relate to songs so differently. No matter what it's about in reality, people create their own meaning behind it and connect with it on their own terms.

Literature speaks with everyone individually - it is personal property that stays inside our heads. And nothing speaks to us as forcefully as a book, which expects nothing in return other than that we think and feel.

With every role that I do, I always see a little bit of me, a little bit of art and life.

We used to go to movies to see stories about ourselves. It would transport us to new worlds and we'd see aspects of ourselves reflected back.

I want everyone who's listening to know who I am and not just see me as this singer. I want them to feel connected to my story.

I don't really like to talk about what my songs are about.

I think people will discover themselves in 'Ankahee.'

I really do pride myself on being able to help other people tell their stories and bring out the best in them. But I still, every song I'm writing, I still need to relate to it. I still need to find my true self in it, or else it'll feel dishonest. I mean, everything has a queer meaning as far as I'm concerned.