Thinking about what songs are coming next instead of just relaxing, breathing and playing from my heart. Sometimes it can get to be almost like the enemy.
The desire to share is not a vague, windy sentiment, not when you see the massive rise in live concerts in response to the phenomenon of downloading music... People want to get rid of the headphones and be part of a shared experience.
What I've learned by going out and playing smaller venues and being more in touch with people is getting feedback, just by virtue of being able to watch the crowd react and watch their faces instead of being blinded by 3,000 spotlights. I've realized that you can quickly get out of touch with your audience if you're not careful.
Listening to Ozzy Osbourne at full blast always made me feel a little bit better. It made me feel like I wasn't alone.
When the Killers first came out, a lot of people thought we were English, and it touched a chord in me, because my roots are very American.
Music is an extraordinary vehicle for expressing emotion - very powerful emotions. That's what draws millions of people towards it. And, um, I found myself always going for these darker places and - people identify with that.
I love being in a small club where everybody has a good seat, and we don't look like ants. And you can feel the audience, which makes it kind of magical, and I miss that. I guess I have the best of both worlds.
I only record songs that touch me in some way, ones that I can relate to.
Writing from a personal experience can bring about this emotion and power of emotion that can be instantly connected to the instrument, my voice.
Oh yeah, it's great see music and to play music in small places. And it's really fun for me to play here because, you know, I played two feet from people all night. And after all those years, it's great to be able to talk to folks.
I was the lead singer in a lot of the bands I was in. You have to be comfortable. You gotta get up there and sell the song. You have to get up there and sell the lyric. You gotta be able to feel it.
Rock has the ability to make you feel like you're the only person in the room.
I like music that expresses what I think.
Live music is incredible because you get to be with people, and you get to have this tactile, real-world experience, but at the end of the day, if your eyes are closed and you're getting swept away, it's like... I don't know.
That's what music is all about, vibes. That's what makes people react and relate to a song, what makes it soulful.
What we have to get clear to kids is that when you offer your stillness and open yourself to the experience of music, it pays you back more than you give.
Music became a healer for me. And I learned to listen with all my being. I found that it could wipe away all the emotions of fear and confusion relating to my family.
Dancing is about expressing yourself, and the more walls you let down, the better.
Singing is a way of releasing an emotion that you sometimes can't portray when you're acting. And music moves your soul, so music is the source of the most intense emotions you can feel. When you hear a song and you're acting it's incredible. But when you're singing a song and you're acting it's even more incredible.
I haven't been to many music events where somebody was performing and it actually made me cry.
I'm such an emotional person that when it comes to songwriting, I can click into whatever zone I need.
I always make sure there's something for the audience to connect to, in terms of my movements relating to the sounds being heard.
So I just try to be me and feel the songs and feel the energy of the band with me.
