Paul Weller Quotes

The whole path of American music has been so much about the recognition of stylistic diversity, and the recognition of the importance of music which was from one of the vernacular traditions.

Truth of the matter is, jazz is American music. And that doesn't mean bebop. Jazz is really about improvising. All the music that's been created in America has been pretty much improvised... Whether it's hillbilly or rock n' roll for blues, it's basically jazz music... It's basically about another way of hearing what comes out of America.

When I read about Gram Parsons' dream of this Cosmic American Music when I was in my late teens, that stuck with me: that idea, that ambition, to draw off the roots of music but take it somewhere fresh.

The blues has been the foundation of all other American music since the beginning.

So much is filtered by pop music today, because the music industry is driven by single, single, single, single, the next single, not the nurturing of artists and that kind of thing.

The rise of the Internet has caused the demise of the record labels, and has destroyed the music business of old, but it's also created new opportunities for young artists.

I've been a jazz artist playing pop and R&B my entire career.

Composers are influenced by all the important music in their lives - and I suppose that since radio started playing popular music, that's as likely to be The Beatles or Aphex Twin as it is to be Verdi or Ravel. They'd be strange teenagers if they didn't. But cross-pollinating happens too - Aphex Twin did more interesting things with electronic music than most trained composers, who seemed to approach samplers with undue caution and reverence in those early days.

So many artists who came out during that time, including myself, were able to get on radio. New forms of singer-songwriters developed out of that.

Only the free-wheeling artist-explorer, non-academic, scientist-philosopher, mechanic, economist-poet who has never waited for patron-starting and accrediting of his co-ordinate capabilities holds the prime initiative today.

The movies today are too rich to have any room for genuine artists. They produce a few passable craftsmen, but no artists. Can you imagine a Beethoven making $100, 000 a year?

An architect doesn't go off with a shovel and dig his foundation and lay every brick. He's still an artist.

Make today's solid ground out of yesterday's quicksand.

I think the music business is changing. Artists that don't want to tour and just want to collect royalty checks and stay home are not going to be able to do that.

Elvis changed the country music scene quite a bit; he almost put country music out of business.

Today's Baudelaires are hip-hop artists.

Country music artists are staying true to their roots, keeping it country but throwing a little bit of rock flair in there which I think is a good thing.

I like adding little elements into the final mix. I'm more fond of the '70s glam than '80s. I have that style of vocals... there are a lot of pop artists who are using the glam vibe in their music. I'm part of that wave.

When I hear my first album today I hear myself reading my rhymes but I'm my worst critic.

I will not allow yesterday's success to lull me into today's complacency, for this is the great foundation of failure.

If my legs are showing, the makeup artist adds a tiny amount of foundation to body lotion and rubs it in.

What happens to a lot of artists in the music industry right now is the following: The music industry is plummeting real fast. So as the industry plummets, what happens is that there is no deals being made.

I think I've always felt as a band and as a musician and a music business person, I've always felt like an outsider, period.

It is really sad for the new artists. Where's the next Elvis, where's the next Beatles, where's the Zeppelin? They're out there but they don't have a chance because once upon a time we [musicians of the 60s] had record companies, and they would support you and have point of purchase material and they would give you advances. In other words, they gave you the air to breathe to find yourself and spend the time to learn how to run.

I don't want to make a record like in the '50s or the '60s or the '70s. I want to make a record like today, that's right now.