All my writing takes place during the recording of the master tapes. I never do have songs when I start up an album. I actually write them while I record.
I think an album is all about the songs you've worked on and the journey it's taken to get there.
Working as a teaboy may have helped my confidence, but not everyone else was so pleased. I could never remember who had milk or how many sugars, and I had an unusual talent for spilling tea on the recording console.
So I'll set a cycle in motion and pop it into record and I'll lay down a drum pattern, a bass line, a keyboard and guitar part, and once the groove is going I launch into the song and sing my song over the top.
I built a studio in L.A. for me and my brother to just write every single day. And it's been great, man.
I have such memories; I keep thinking about all the people I worked with. I was in the recording studio and I was talking to one of the engineers who is 24 and they don't know these people. They just absolutely don't know the people and it just tickles me. I don't feel like I've grown up.
I basically was in charge of the Jackson 5 - all their creative, when it came down to the studio, and all their musical endeavors.
It got to the point where I couldn't afford to borrow any more money to lose. Know what I mean? That was just before 'Frampton,' my fourth album. As we were recording it, I was very down and depressed.
The world has changed a lot since I started making records.I used to go into a studio and there were songs there, chosen for me to see if I liked them. I wasn't encouraged to write.
When I was in the recording studio, I needed to concentrate on what my voice was doing, which is rather difficult if you can't actually see what you are supposed to be singing.
I have been playing acoustic music for a very long time, and it's something that I am very comfortable doing, so if I made a record, it would probably be a mixture of that and some other things that I'm interested in.
It takes so much energy and time to make one song perfect.
Making a record is an intimate experience. A good producer can get things out of you that you can't get out of yourself.
I have a lot of songs, and I'd love to do some more recording with the band.
Our first album was kind of simple, but it had that fire, that energy that we have to have.
Strings have been a part of my career and my albums since the very first day. 'Snowbird' had beautiful strings.
From the first album I'm playing bass on a lot of the tunes, and piano on a lot of 'em, and drums, and guitars. I did that on almost every album.
My only real hobby is playing music. I write a lot of music on guitar and keyboards and hope one day to make a record or maybe even write the score for a film.
Creating a record on my own and deciding who plays and how the songs were structured, it was fun to do.
Sometimes, I make 50 songs and pick out the best 10. I've been in the studio all day, all night, making the beat, writing the raps. You never know what's gonna be a hit.
I want to make an album with just great beats and big vocals and just amazing lyrics.
I want to do, like, 50 records.
When we recorded our first album sixteen track machines were the thing.
I've been in the studio environment since I was young, so I know what to expect.
At the time, I was making good money doing background work and demos.
