Musical Substance Quotes

I'm not a pop act, churning stuff out really quickly. I find the music that arises from that style of working is distracted, not particularly profound.

Extreme volume in music very often disguises a lack of actually important content.

For me personally, Elliott Carter was and remains one of the most meaningful composers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries because he represents substance. He was the living proof of uncompromising, complex music, which at first seems inaccessible. But it becomes accessible if one digs in and sees the development through.

Once you can get a fan to listen to an album a handful of times and really have a lot of substance for them to grasp, then you're looking at having a fan that really appreciates what you do for life and can appreciate coming to see it live.

What makes a song last is real content from a mind that is thinking a little bit harder about certain things. A lot of artists don't really think that hard.

For me, singing was always about the lyrics. I'm hopeless at singing songs that don't have a core.

You have to give people something to actually write music so that you're not just running your mouth all the time.

Fast is only cool if it's melodic and has substance.

A lot of music you might listen to is pretty vapid, it doesn't always deal with our deeper issues. These are the things I'm interested in now, particularly at my age.

I can't bring myself to release an instrumental album because I feel like I want some meat on the bone. Something to chew on, lyrically and content-wise.

You have to have a balance, and I think that people get upset about Hip-Hop and say that it's dead because there is no balance. It's just all this simple-minded music, and it doesn't seem to be any content, and the dance club music outnumbers the little content there is.

There's a lot of music out there that's like, 'I'm so mad! I'm sad! I'm into skulls and crossbones and the color black,' and that's just meaningless and shallow. So much of metal is about that and it's hard to find metal that is substantial and meaningful in terms of its content.

Too many rockers put on the leather pants and shirt first. But if you write good songs, the pants and shirt will follow.

A lot of my fans want easily digestible music, which I'm not really prepared to give anyone, ever. That's just trash. That's boring.

It's a beautiful idea to focus on how everything is temporary and always in flux. It may feel bad now, but it will feel good later, and vice versa. To write about those things brings this satisfying feeling as a creative person. There's a lot of music out there that's like, "I'm so mad! I'm sad! I'm into skulls and crossbones and the color black," and that's just meaningless and shallow. So much of metal is about that and it's hard to find metal that is substantial and meaningful in terms of its content.

Pop is actually my least favorite kind of music, because it lacks real depth.

I think you only have to pull stunts if the content of your music is meaningless.

I'll never put out some super-dumbed-down music. It'll always have some substance to it.

I love soul. But I love a tune that has some meat in it. Something I could hang my hat on. Because music is universal.