Mija Quotes

And then when I found my sound, it took me two and a half weeks to find my sound and when I did I pulled out all the stops, all the stops I could find.

On 'Heartbreaker,' I had to sing those songs. I drank the way I did those songs. I ate the way I did those songs. I communicated the way I did those songs. With 'Gold,' I was trying to prove something to myself. I wanted to invent a modern classic.

I always make a point to make my records different. Let's say I have a record that's influenced by hip-hop in an abstract way; for the next record, I'd try not to do that. They are all connected in a personal way but it's important not to repeat myself, because then I can always learn something about myself through my work.

It is not about writing those hits again. I am sure I could write them, but it is about the sensibilities.

I've been making music for a long time, since I was very young, but at the same time, I'm still exploring what works for me. I feel like I'm just starting out.

The combination of experience and experimentation will ultimately yield a personal sound.

Of course you draw from yourself, but the artistic nourishment you want to get is be versatile, do something different, and I think I got a chance to do that in a lot of different ways.

I think most producers and MCs are constantly in this competition, but it's usually with yourself. It's usually wanting to be innovative: wanting to catch yourself when you're doing the same thing or throwing out the same art you've already done.

In my honest opinion, in 'Volumes I' and 'II,' we were still trying to figure out our sound.

When I wrote my debut album I was around 17, I didn't really know what my sound was or who I was and what I wanted.

For the longest time, I was trying to be DJ Shadow, I think. But I slowly developed my own style. It was trial and error, for sure.

I have always just experimented, and I come from a very ancient, acoustic root. It was very hard to put a finger on me.

I feel like I've mastered Dave East. For a long time I was trying to figure out who I was and what sound I wanted to come with.

I hope what I do has an art to it, and as an artist you have to try new things and keep yourself entertained.

I come from an art-school background, and I still feel that in my music, it's about exploration and challenging myself, about putting myself in a place that's frightening because I haven't been there before.

The music I turn out these days is the kind of music I want to hear myself.

I needed to explore my talent and versatility and see if I had another side to me, another sound.

The more I compose, the more I know that I don't know it all. I think it's a good way to start. If you think you know it all, the work becomes a repetition of what you've already done. I try to make sure that I don't repeat my music.

I don't quite know what a record is anymore. I don't quite know how to describe it. Don't know how to define it yet, so I'm just letting it gestate, and grow and see if maybe I'll get a better sense of what a record is.

I don't ever try to make a song better than my last song. I just try to make it different from my last one.

I'm so happy people are seeing the eclectic side of me. I'm really honored to be able to push my voice into different sounds. Otherwise it all gets a bit samey same.

I feel like bands should be growing, living, functioning entities and to crystallize a band into a single album, and for that to be a touchstone - I understand it from a fan's perspective but I also feel like it's a little bit misleading in terms of the way bands actually function.

Making records is fun. It's not some big statement. You're allowed to make mistakes.

Never try to make the same record twice, even when people are screaming for the same sound.

Most people think an artist tries to be original, but originality is the last thing that develops in the artist.