I don't like karaoke very much. I like being around it, but I don't like singing it. If I had to sing a karaoke song, it's usually "Son of a Preacher Man" by Dusty Springfield.
The world has changed a lot since I started making records.I used to go into a studio and there were songs there, chosen for me to see if I liked them. I wasn't encouraged to write.
I've always thought that whether I'm writing or not, I've gotta pick the best songs, whether or not they're mine. I'm not gonna sing them just because I wrote them. I've gotta find the best songs to make the best record I can.
Music is the backbone of my shows.
In the beginning, if you look at those early label albums of the Chicks, we didn't write all that much. We had an A&R person and they were getting songs from publishers, listening to hours and hours of cassette tapes.
'Trouble Maker' was a project that worked whenever a song that fit the concept came in.
I think, sometimes, artists release music too fast. If you just sit back and listen to the track for a little bit you could pick and choose how you want to do it and see if you really feel the song, because sometimes you might not even like the song after a few listens.
I pick and choose what I want to put on what. Instead of just dropping a single, I like putting projects together.
In an interview, President Obama said he recently deejayed a small dance party at the White House. Obama has a lot in common with deejays. He takes requests and then completely ignores them.
Songs are not on a conveyor belt. I'm not chopping them up and putting them out.
If the record was picked up by Dot Records, I would imagine that they would have wanted both sides of the record to be something by Lou alone which would account for the dropping of 'So Blue'.
The first project, I made 16 songs and put 12 of them on the mixtape.
The thing about 'Hold Back The River' that I like is that it's a good starting place, and it was the perfect first single.
I was once trying to find a song to fit Nicki Minaj's 'Hey Mama.' But nothing worked out. Sometimes, you can't help it.
I'm going to be quite choosy about singing. If I connect to a tune and like what I am offered to sing, I'll do it. I am an actor by profession, not a singer.
I want to release six songs, let people listen to those, let them chill for a second, do a tour, release another six songs, chill for a second and then take my favorite four, put them on the album, and add some more.
There were a lot of songs during my MCA years that I thought should have been singles but were not. You can't worry about what wasn't - I was very lucky to have as many hits as I had.
If I hear a conversation and somebody says something intriguing, my first thought is, 'Is that a song?' I write all year long, and at the end of the year I pull these forty or fifty things out and say which of these things do I want to record.
If you want to call me a Karaoke King, I'll take it.
When I'm on stage, the songs that we've chosen to play from the back catalog are things that still resonate with me, and matter to me. And the songs that I couldn't be a part of, we don't play anymore.
It's always shocking to people, because sometimes when I go on the road and I DJ, they think I'm just gonna perform, so to see me really DJing and playing their favorite song and really rockin', it's a shock to people, and definitely to DJs.
You know, when you're making a record, you come up with 15, 20 songs. Then they start to fall by the wayside as your interest wanes. It's kind of like a process of elimination to determine which songs wind up on the record.
When I think about putting together an album, the process of listening to hundreds of songs each time and picking out the best 10 or so that will go on the record, it really sinks in as to just how many songs I've listened to all these years.
I don't really do sad, depressing songs.
When I'm DJing for two hours, I might play two or three Smiths songs.
