It's a thrill to see the birth of an artist.
The thing about being an artist is that you evolve so quickly, you grow, you learn, you change, you find yourself hating work that you made months prior. That's the hard part about making an album, but every couple days I fall asleep listening to my album front to back and I lay there feeling so proud of what I did.
Every time you come out with an album or a song, you want to feel like you're growing a bit in what you are and giving people something that they can feel.
Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.
I know as far as I'm concerned, I'm getting really excited about writing, and I'm taking guitar and vocal lessons.
The final lesson a writer learns is that everything can nourish the writer.
The hardest thing is in terms of the drawing, because, you know, I really have to work to keep my hand fluid, and I've done a lot of recovery, but it's not the same as it once was.
I've always been doing some sort of art. I started off, when I was very young, painting.
If my peers had a significant impact on my music, my music would probably be a lot more popular.
When I was a kid, I was always drawing things. I'd get butcher paper or grocery bags and draw on them.
The only reason you make a movie is not to make or set out to do a good or a bad movie, it's just to see what you learn for the next one.
When I started making music, I made music in a very commercial space and I didn't have room to really explore things on my own terms. It took me awhile to create a little bubble where I could explore other things, and new things. When I did that, my tools were songwriting and arranging.
You know, I went to Oberlin. At that time, grades were - you elected to have them or not. It was all of that era where grades were out the window. But I did very well in school. I didn't really study the arts; I practiced the arts.
I started drawing at a very young age. Writing a story wasn't satisfying, but to actually draw our own world - it's like controlling your own dreams.
I'm probably tougher on myself than I used to be. I'll revise my lyrics more. Part of that is working with the right people and producers who will say, 'How can you make that better?' Allowing yourself to collaborate with people will push you toward transcendence.
I still come closest to success with drawing.
I was always involved in art and when I went under contract at Warner Bros. at 18, it afforded me the possibility of never having to stop painting, never having to stop taking photographs and so on, and to actually live a cultural life.
I have been working and composing music since 1986. Over the years, I have seen our music industry go through all kinds of transformation.
My musical education started in the limelight, because I found myself surrounded by real musicians, but after my career had taken off.
A lot of first novels are written long before they're actually put down on paper.
I think people have been really receptive to understanding that I've grown up and the music's going to sound a little different.
When I was 19, I joined a rock band, and that's when I began to say, 'Okay, this is something that I could take seriously.' When I came to Minneapolis, it just refined everything.
I feel like 'Work' was a really good song for people to get to know me, as it's obviously biographical. With 'Bounce,' I wanted to make sure people know there's a fun side to me as well as the somber and serious one.
Portugal. The Man, to me, doesn't have any real ties. We try to change things up with every album, really progress, and let things happen.
Obviously I'd love to work with any of these great directors because every time I've worked with them I've gained a tremendous amount as an actor. Each director has his own way of pushing you towards improving yourself.
