I always think the audience should be part of the show.
I was really sick of bands just ignoring the audience as a posture in rock music. And I think we fed off each other in terms of trying to engage the audience, not in a hammy way, but actually trying to be aware of the space that you are playing in and trying to connect in some way through the music.
In a live performance, it's a collaboration with the audience; you ride the ebb and flow of the crowd's energy. On television, you don't have that.
My job when I'm acting in a movie is very limited to playing a role. I'm not evaluating somebody. I'm only evaluating them insofar as they're interacting with me, but I'm not evaluating their skill set and I don't watch the movies, so I'm not aware of the way they're putting things together.
Some artists I know, they would rather not see the audience or envision them. But for me, I'd rather see them. I feel like part of the reason I perform is to feel that connection. It's the reason I love it so much.
With Faith No More, even though we're a bunch of old men, what I remember about our best shows is some sort of confrontation with the audience.
I haven't done a lot of voice work, but I know that a lot of shows will just bring in the actors individually, and they will just do what is on the paper. You miss out on that connection of having everyone there.
I don't know if I ever really considered making a connection with the audience.
I feed off the audience a lot, their energy.
I'll come in with a string of riffs and direct the musical ideas. But you still need a band and their input to make the ideas come alive. You can't underestimate band chemistry.
There's nothing like being in front of a live audience and getting that vibe from them, and I love people to join in the singing, and I love people to clap their hands.
Fans are what make a performer and I've always taken them seriously.
It's great to be able to get up there now and do an hour or 75 minutes of songs they're familiar with.
When you talk about the exchange of energy between performer and audience and audience and performer, I hope that I'm one of the best.
Music is about communication, and the chemistry between an audience and the orchestra is absolutely essential; the performance does not exist in a bubble.
There's only so much you can do until you get on set and see the aesthetics of what you're dealing with. Then you see what the other players are giving to you. It's all about the transfer of energy between different actors.
We try to connect with the audience as much as we can. We feel the energy from the audience, and it gives us so much joy and inspiration.
I try to do a lot of direct contact with the audience, because the audience is part of the concert, too, as much as anyone on stage, and it's a shame not to get to meet them if you get the chance.
It's important that the art forms communicate, whether it's the dance program with the jazz program or the classical program with the opera program, that these conversations becomes fluid.
The audience has its own gestalt, and it becomes another character - a character that changes each night.
Sometimes in a big theatre, you have about, probably, six yards sometimes between you and the first person in the audience. It's almost like you've got to jump across a little pond to get there and then keep moving.
