Innovative Sound Quotes

Probably the No. 1 most important thing in my music is not to sound like anyone else. It is hard in this day and age.

I think my music is experimental, playful, challenging, focused, fun. I don't want it to be thought of as trying to appeal to a certain type of person or being very cerebral.

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.

I think people were looking for something new in the EDM scene and found it in my music.

I kept hearing all these rules: 'You can't say that in country music.' 'You can't use that kind of beat.' I became so frustrated. It may have slingshotted me, in a rebellious way, toward doing something different.

I knew the Beatles songs and how influential they are to other bands, but I'm not a fanatic, so I could look outside the box and observe.

I really think only Erykah Badu can be Erykah Badu.

'Far Beyond Driven' was a record that was probably ahead of its time, and to this day, it still sounds as fresh as just about any other band that's out there. It was a record that was pushed to another level.

I'm really grateful. But I never had the rock star dream. I thought it would be cool to be a modern-day composer.

Earth, Wind & Fire was something new. I wanted to bring something innovative to the music. It was out of a desire to create excitement with music that was pleasurable to play and listen to.

Coldplay doesn't have to stay within a certain genre; they just go where they go.

I've always had creative freedom. Instrumental rock wasn't really a genre, but the success of 'Surfing With the Alien' legitimized my approach.

I like what Dumbfoundead and Awkwafina are doing, but I think I'm just trying to do something different.

When I got out of the Nazz, I had it in my mind that simply to be eclectic was an important aspect of making music. It was something that I derived from The Beatles.

I think Prince should open up a little more to other artists. Just because we love Prince. Especially the old stuff - we love him to death. But if he opened up he would be something to deal with. Imagine Kanye West producing a Prince track? It would be banoodles!

My ethos is musical freedom: to create whatever I want.

'Sunshine Superman' was a pioneering work that for the first time presented a fusion of Celtic, jazz, folk, rock, and Indian music as well as poetry.

Prince turned experimental music into pop music. 'When Doves Cry,' the whole 'Purple Rain' soundtrack - he was inspired by the Cocteau Twins and new wave pop and brought it into R&B when he first started, and then it became this cool, next-level, kind of hard-to-digest music. Which is what I felt 'House of Balloons' was.

When we think about big records, a lot of producers are thinking of how to make it as standard as possible. I think those days are gone. I think you have to surprise the audience in 2015.

I got my own sound in Atlanta because I don't listen to anybody's music. When you listen to people's music, you start to say stuff they say as an artist because that's what you've been listening to. Me, I don't listen to anybody. I support, but I don't listen, because I don't want to run with someone style. I do my own thing.

I'm really interested in bands that sound nothing like anything I do or can do. That's what interests me.

I was in a band called Episode Six with Roger Glover, which was more of a harmony band, really. At one gig, there were a few dodgy characters leaning up against the wall of the venue - and we ended up joining their band. Purple was the talk of every musician in the country - they had something new and very exciting.

I've never played it safe on my own music.

I think people are enticed by indie rap and every time you have a group going against the grain, they're gonna be like, 'Wow, you did it yourself in 2012, that's impressive - how did you do it? What're you doing that's different? And how can I be a part of it?'

I don't know if it's possible to affect my ego any more. There's no room left. For me, I think I make music like the way I think it should be made, like what rock should sound like. It has nothing to do with the current marketplace. And so from that state of mind, it's gonna sound different from anything else out there. And when something sounds different, I think that can be inspiring to other musicians.