The real test of a musician is live performance. It's one thing to spend a long time learning how to play well in the studio, but to do it in front of people is what keeps me coming back to touring.
I have been touring since I got my first band in 1962, so there is no problem there. We are basically performing musicians, so that's what we do.
When you tour, you regain the music and the connection with the audience.
I thrive on being on the road, waking up in a different place every day and having my life revolve around music. When you walk out in front of 300,000 people and pull it off, it validates you.
I've done a lot of different tours. For me, I try to go on tours that I think are gonna be fun. It's, like, grueling, and it's hard, and there's got to be an element to it that's exciting.
We got word that Mick Jagger heard our first album and liked it. And he wanted us to open for the Stones in Hawaii. That just blew us away. But the next thing I heard was that Stevie Wonder opened for them here in the States and actually got booed at one show. So I was scared to death.
I've been a fan of Zombie's since the beginning. I've toured with them and have always wanted to play for them.
I went on tour with Beyonce before. I wouldn't mind doing something with her.
I was never really a DJ... I just kinda figured it all out at once as I started to tour. I was making music and producing and I just had to start to DJ as I got more into touring.
Success came to me in my late 20s. I started touring when I was a teenager, so I had already seen the good, the bad, and the ugly side of the music business. Plus, setting up my own record company taught me a lot.
When Josh and I are recording a record, we're very mindful of how the music will manifest itself live. That's where we have to live every day. When we tour for the next record, I imagine there will be a new story to tell, and we'll introduce new characters.
I think that there are a lot of great studio people but the fewer voices in my head when I'm getting out a draft, the better. I just get it out and then I'll listen to all manner of good ideas. And that's what happens, too, when I'm touring and doing a character on stage.
One thing a lot of people don't know about Fun. was that the three of us all came from 10 years of touring with our own projects. That's how we met, actually.
When we toured... I was hungry to take out people like Jeff Beck in front of us; Fleetwood Mac, just before they hit; Heart, just before they hit.
I'm 30, and I've been touring since I was 15. So it's been a long journey to get here.
When I was 17, my main goal was to be in a band and travel the world. I ended up getting to do that with my old band Hey Monday. I got to see the world and learn how to tour, and the next thing I knew, I was on 'The Voice.' So it was just a crazy, crazy ride.
I think touring in America lives up to the myth, in all ways of what touring is. So many pretty cities, and it's pretty easy, compared to touring other places. I'm fascinated by America. Great crowds - people are very musical. I've been getting better throughout the tour in America, relating to people. At the start I was a bit stiff, and I'm starting to relax.
I didn't spend much time in America, which probably was a mistake. To someone else, having a number one in America would be enough to get them touring.
When I first used to tour, guys would come up and say, 'Where's the fight club in my area?' and I would say, 'There isn't one.' And they'd say, 'No, no, you can tell me, you can tell me.'
I've forgotten what it feels like to be in one place for more than a day... But we signed up for this. This is our dream. We sat down and said this is what we want to do, play music and touring.
Anyone who has toured as long as I have, or who has traveled as extensively, and says that they've never cheated is lying.
We'd been out touring for a couple of years before we signed with Sony and everything.
I used to hate touring, I used to absolutely hate it! I think one of the reasons why was because in between songs I found it difficult to talk to the audience, and now I don't care, I say what I want!
Basically, a band's first record is them coming together and really learning everything, and then, after they're on the road and really become a unit, the next record slams.
I have been on my own all my life except during those touring days.
