I tried so many different musics. I kind of burned out on classical and wanted to make it fun again. I started playing with indie bands and country bands and finally realized electronic music brought my style to life.
I may sing the same songs for over 40 years now but I always sing them in different ways in order to keep the excitement and passion alive.
In every decade rock and roll starts to get very serious and navel gazing and kind of self serious and every once and a while it kind of needs a kick in the pants.
I love hearing the same songs over and over again - as long as queens challenge themselves to come up with new ways of performing them.
Boredom or being sick of what you've done before is a big part of being in a band.
All genres of music have to evolve, grow, and expand in order to maintain. I don't think there's anything wrong with the growth of R&B. I welcome it.
The greatest thing about me is I have always been able to reinvent. We have done that about three or four times with my sound.
Sometimes you get too jaded, too seasoned. With Hellyeah, we've been having a lot of fun. From the minute we sat down in the studio, there was a lot of energy.
The reason I stop playing songs is usually because I get sick of them, and then they find themselves back into the set list at some point.
That's the miracle of music. No one can reinterpret a Picasso, but a song can be remixed and covered and interpreted in an infinite number of ways. It's a living thing.
Presenting the American songbook as a living, breathing entity that's expanding all the time is very important.
Pop music has been exhausted. The innocence has been exhausted. I think we've lost the ability to be blown away by music.
The one thing you don't want is that stale sound when you've done a line so much you can't find a fresh approach to it. Drop it.
After ten or twelve years you can only play something so long and then you start to parody it.
I've realised that if it is to remain relevant, contemporary music needs to change.
I just want to be a part of a band that will be able to reinvent themselves, you know.
Sometimes a sound gets overused. There is such a thing as a good saxophone, but it's like those fields in agriculture - they need to rest for a year or so. You need time to burn all the saxophones and start from scratch.
Making 'Orphee' has been a true labour of love, one that has been a part of my life for six years, and yet the music always remained fresh - it was constantly in a state of flux and renewal.
I've been blessed. Every few years, I'll connect with somebody and put out a record with somebody that keeps me relevant.
It was amazing to remake and rewrite a song like 'Sweet Like Chocolate.' It feels like a good way to come back.
You know, rock n' roll's an old carcass: it's one big cliche. It's so difficult to do anything that has any sense of freshness or vitality or meaning. But that's what I'm trying to do, to give it new meaning.
I am thankful that I can perform with Hui and E'dawn, who revived my listless feelings as a musician and helped me feel refreshed.
