Creative Focus Quotes

Every single person in my life and every relationship I have is distant because all I do is music.

I want to go make a movie and be very present for that and give it everything I have, and after we're done, then the rest of the time is mine.

Too many of the artists of Wales spend too much time talking about the position of theartists of Wales.There is only one position for an artist anywhere: and that is, upright.

Generally I start writing when I have even the smallest idea of how a book is going to go, because the physical process of writing itself keeps the mind active and focused on the job at hand. Usually I write in about 5 drafts, but that simply means there are 5 definite times when I go in a linear fashion from the beginning to the end of the book.

Painters are not in any way unsociable through pride, but either because they find few pursuits equal to painting, or in order not to corrupt themselves with the useless conversation of idle people, and debase the intellect from the lofty imaginations in which they are always absorbed.

I don't think about how much business my films will make.

I think the main thing was me having a daughter. I just knew that I had to be a man, so I grew up real quick. Then I started caring about my music more, and I feel like that was the main change between 'Killer Instinct' and 'TRAPSOUL'. I was just like, 'I need to take this more serious and watch the things I say'.

I've got a lot of artistic energy, but there's only so much of it, though. You don't want to spread yourself thin.

High achievements in art, music, etc., are the results of concentration.

My writing is done in railroad yards while waiting for a freight, in the fields while waiting for a truck, and at noon after lunch. Towns are too distracting.

You don’t ask a writer what typewriter he uses.

All the buzz can be very much here today and gone tomorrow, but my focus is creating music that will last forever.

There's the drums, the music, the melodies, the lyrics, the production, the artwork: there are so many elements to making an album, and the drumming is just a very small fraction of what I focus on.

I don't think I would ever inch my way up to Y.A. That audience is very well served. There are a lot of wonderful writers writing for Y.A. I feel like I'm in the right place.

I think a lot of artists get confused when people like their music; they think that means people know and like them. I'm sure there's an element of truth to that, but to me, the music I make is what I'm most proud of. I prefer to focus on that and for people to focus on the music, too.

I haven't written about an immigrant experience because I haven't experienced that before and am focused on existential themes.

I stick to what I do best, and I think what makes an artist an artist is when they know who they are.

It's really hard to make records and concentrate and have a free mind, because I have this whole other life. If you don't have kids it's a whole other thing. I think you can be fifty and still have a rock and roll lifestyle; you can still perpetuate that.

It's tricky to ask a filmmaker to explain his own work; usually we're the least qualified to make sense of what we've done, unfortunately, because of the tunnel vision required to create anything over four years.

Raydiation is more mature, reveals more about me personally and focuses on singing and songs that people can relate to.

I was called a freak because I was so engrossed in music.

When I'm doing interviews, I'm doing interviews, and when I am writing, I'm writing. I sit there with a musician and I write. It's the same process since I started writing in my twenties. I like to come in and leave with a finished song.

We're not trying to change the world; just music.

Nevertheless, hateful as saying 'No' always is to an imaginative person, and certain as the offence may be that it will cause to individuals whose own work does not require isolated effort, the writer who is engaged on a book must learn to say it. He must say it consistently to all interrupters; to the numerous callers and correspondents who want him to speak, open bazaars, see them for 'only' ten minutes, attend literary parties, put people up, or read, correct and find publishers for semi-literate manuscripts by his personal friends.

I'm not taking any interest in politics. I'm not involved in politics in any way. My life is in writing now.