Authentic Artistry Quotes

You get a lot of who you are as a musician across through the music you write. If you're writing your own music, then it's important to be really honest.

I think you really have to remember what you loved about making music in the first place. Ultimately, people can be like, 'We've seen this dude in many movies,' but if they hear a song and they're feeling it, they can look past all the personal things and not hold it against you that you're also an actor.

As soon as any art is pursued with a view of money, then farewell, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, all hope of genuine good work.

When I write songs I write for myself...I'm writing it as a form of expression, and hoping to find an audience, an audience that responds to music that is honest and lyrical and tells stories.

All of the songs on 'Kiddo' were a part of my soul; they're songs that I could never give away.

We personally don't try to follow industry trends or themes. We just try and make something that we think would be cool and we want to make.

I don't really premeditate what I write my songs about; you know, they just kind of happen, and I can't start writing songs to please a certain group of people or propagate a certain message all the time. That's just not how my songwriting works - it just sort of comes out, and the songs are what they are.

Unless it comes out of your soul like a rocket, unless being still would drive you to madness or suicide or murder, don't do it. unless the sun inside you is burning your gut, don't do it. when it is truly time, and if you have been chosen, it will do it by itself and it will keep on doing it until you die or it dies in you. there is no other way. and there never was.

His music was direct from his heart and brain in the purest form possible.

Every authentic artist is engaged in this creating of the conscience of the race, even though he or she may be unaware of the fact.

'Down on Me' can't showcase my true talent. 'Birthday Sex' was robotic. When I perform it, I can't give you this church feeling I know I can give.

The society that produced The Who, The Stones, Dylan, Paul McCartney and later on people, like myself, is over. The materialistic society that produces these kinds of bombastic performances that don't have any value or musical meaning, is very conspicuous, look at me, I'm rich, dig my brand. That's what missing, Bob Dylan made us feel worthy, I try to do the same thing. Respect for the audience with music that is meaningful and soulful. Go for what moves you and not necessarily what you think will be commercial.

I don't think about whether it's gonna be a dance record or a ballad or anything when I'm making music. I sit in the studio and I think, 'How am I feeling today?' and I write how I feel. It's really, really simple.

Music that comes from the heart - that's the music that moves me.

Kenny Loggins pours his heart and soul into the music he makes. He'll take you with him through everything he's going through, which is not easy.

What I like is natural music. It's like I was born with a gift to do something naturally, which I have no choice but to followup on.

I felt from time to time that shooting live music is the most purely cinematic thing you can do. Ideally, the cinema is becoming one with the music. There is little artifice involved. There's no acting. I love it.

I listened to pretty much anything that I could really feel, where I felt like the artist had to write those songs, where you can feel their soul and the pain and the happiness and love and everything.

I'm not going to put out a Christmas CD until it's coming out of me naturally.

One must be a living man and a posthumous artist.

I never try and tune anything out. I think that's a mistake. You want to bring all the honest stuff that's going on inside you into your work. Otherwise, you're keeping a lot of authenticity out.

I can't' really sing a song unless I really connect with the lyrics.

I like artists with a life, where it's not this universal thing anybody could sing. I want them speaking to me in only a way that they can. To me, that's what makes it good.

If I can play one note and make you cry, then that's better than those fancy dancers playing twenty notes.

There's certain artists that are meant to have certain paths and go the way of the corporate world. And then there are artists who are artists.