Vocal Experimentation Quotes

We wanted to really push ourselves on 'Past Lives' to actually hold back sometimes, sing in falsetto, let the music open up and take its space.

You know, I like playing around with my voice and trying all different types of kooky voices.

It was fun trying to use a few different voices for the vocal track on 'Country Heroes.'

I wanted to get rid of the element that had been considered essential in pop music: the voice.

I'm experimenting with my voice. Every day I do different things with it, and if I feel it's appropriate I do it on the record.

Nobody told me how to sing, so I just thought I'd try and sing like Howlin' Wolf. It was like a bark; there was melody to it - but I would go off a bit and I wouldn't stick AutoTune on it or anything to make it in key. Even now, I couldn't tell you about harmonies. I couldn't tell about what notes I'm singing because nobody taught me to sing.

I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary and experimented with voices - it was important to try to find a somewhat iconic voice and laugh. I ended up landing more in the realm of a psychopath - someone with very little to no conscience towards his acts.

I like to use my voice as an instrument and just play along with the music. That's really how I tend to my voice. The content usually comes after or during that process of just trying to be an instrument.

I think one of my pursuits over the years is trying to answer the question of, 'What else can you do with a voice other than stand in front of a microphone and sing?'

I started rejecting the proper way to sing and I started singing.

It's time to do something different. Mind you, I'm grateful to have my career with The B-52s, but it's nice to have fun and play with my voice.

The main thing is always try to find different voices for yourself. If you're in your car just driving somewhere you can try to start thinking about a voice you might want to do, like try a British accent.

I think I have allowed my voice to experiment with the different genres. And I think that I have just really enjoyed the journey of getting to know my voice and seeing what it's capable of, what it's not capable of.

I've been known to wear pajamas onstage for the sole reason of wanting to make sure I'm free enough to execute new things vocally onstage and give my best performance possible.

I always just want to do non-typical voices for some reason.

I like to experiment with my voice, besides music.

I don't like to hear myself sing. So to get comfortable hearing myself sing, I sang in another accent.

When I recorded 'Cooler Than Me', I had been singing for like, three months at the most. I was just a producer experimenting with my voice on tracks, and now I'm, like, a really good singer in a legit way.

I didn't want to put out 'The Unseen' because I thought I would be criticized. I thought everyone would think the sped-up vocals were a gimmick. I had to be convinced to put it out.

I decided to see how my voice sounds on different type of records. So I did Eminem and the Biggie, Florence and the Machine, and Muse covers. A couple of them just came from some jam sessions between me and my sister in her bedroom at my father's house in San Diego.

People like Jeff Buckley, the Mars Volta and Bjork made me listen to music differently. You learn the voice is an instrument you can do crazy things with.

When I'm recording, I usually just mumble and hum a melody and then fill the words in as I go.

I'm always looking for ways to develop as an artist, especially as a jazz artist-to find different ways of testing my voice.

Acting manifested as the primary focus over the years but now I am stirring the pot once again with my voice.

I like to make my voice sound like a piece of tin that's been stuck on the side of a chair, lifted up as far as it would go and then let to spring - "doooiiinng." I like to make it into a piece of metal from time to time and I can do it, both with the movements in my throat and with, uh, my little toys... So I like to take it beyond just a voice, more into the realms of a weapon.