I’ve created, directed and choreographed for Lady Gaga since the beginning, so ‘Born This Way,’ this was musically such an amazing evolution and such a brilliant record. So when she played it for me, it took me a while to find out the visual interpretation that I could give back to her.
When you start a band, you have to find people that are good, have the same sort of mindset as you musically.
Our first radio single, ‘The Stage,’ was eight-and-a-half minutes long. Unabashedly, we wanted to push the limits musically, lyrically, and instrumentation-wise.
Musically, I always allow myself to jump off of cliffs. At least that’s what it feels like to me. Whether that’s what it actually sounds like might depend on what the listener brings to the songs.
I love deejaying and got the opportunity to do a music production course online and loved it, but I am about as musically talented as a house brick.
At MGM, you knew you were going to be working next year; you knew you were going to get paid. But I was too ambitious musically to settle for it. And I wanted to gamble with whatever talent I might have had.
I figured out that it was important for me to have my identity, just live independently and like being myself, musically.
Everything I do is a reflection of the duality within me. Musically, I really love things that are very synthetic and unnatural. And I also like the organic and human… the intrinsic, I guess.
I was really into Black Sabbath, but heavy guitars can really be very limiting, it’s a great frequency and it’s great fun to listen to but on the other hand, musically you can do a lot more without it.
We also did something called the Texas Peace Festival, which was actually a better gig both musically, and in the way it was organised.
Yeah, musically, from a production standpoint my favorite is probably ‘Have a Little Talk with Jesus’. Just the way it turned out production wise with the clarinet and everything, it sounds like something from a movie.
When I’m sick of myself, and when I don’t know what to say as a solo artist, I can write a song for a movie. When I don’t know where to turn musically, being in a band – Rilo Kiley or Jenny & Johnny – the collaborative nature is really exciting.
I like it when songs develop in some way. Four minutes usually isn’t enough time for something to develop musically.
England in the ’60s and the ’70s was everything that history has said; it was phenomenally exciting, musically.
That’s the thing about music: It’s forever. Hopefully, you captured a moment musically that has a timeless quality people will find relevant to their lives at any point. That’s the whole idea about what I love about art and music.
Now that I have a little platform, and there are more eyes on me to release something, all that does is challenge me and put me under pressure, and I love being under pressure, especially musically. I might fail, but I’m excited about the possibilities.
To be in one band that changed the world musically is pretty good, but to be in two bands that changed the world musically, that’s amazing.
I wake up each and every day with a smile on my face knowing I get to do something musically.
Nothing I’m doing musically is revolutionary in any way, shape, or form.
If I do five, six records that sound great, I want it to come out as fast as it can. I don’t care how many copies it sells. It’s about musically moving the needle.
Justin Timberlake is the single most talented human being I’ve ever met in my life, and it sickens me. He is, like, 12 years old or something! He has 0 percent body fat, he is musically gifted, he has a great ear for accents, and he is hilarious.
You know, just being recognized for anything musically for me has been, like incredible because this is all I do, this is all I got. So whenever people can recognize and acknowledge that I’m out here working and doing the best that I can and it’s actually paying off and doing something for me, it’s a blessing.
I’m a mash-up of everyone. My influences would be Michael Jackson, Brandy, Aaliyah – those types of people. So if you can imagine them – and with me taking them, and then putting my own twist and the influence on it – that’s musically what I would sound like.
Everybody on our cast is very musically talented, except for me.
Writing a song to be a single is hard, and I don’t like to focus on that because you can get caught up in making something just terrible, which is really easy to do if you’re focused on making it a single. It’s more fun when you focus on what excites you musically.
I’ve gone down to the Jersey Shore every summer since I was born. It’s like a second home, and Asbury Park is like the capital – it’s the center of all of it. Musically, it’s incredible.
