It's really important to me that the songs not only stand out individually but work as a full body of work, too.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Everything I do, whether it's producing or signing an artist, always starts with the songs. When I'm listening, I'm looking for a balance that you could see in anything. Whether it's a great painting or a building or a sunset.
A lot of songs are derivative of each other. Sometimes you need to take a departure from what you do to something that's slightly different in order to get inspiration.
It's the coolest part about writing music. I don't know how other people work, but so much is derived from some amalgamation of all these different songs that I love. That's why they jump all over the place.
I try to look at most of my solos as a musical piece within the song, not, say, showing off.
So many good songs get written fast, because you know exactly what has to work.
I prefer to hear an artist's work and what they can do, so as far as I'm concerned, I'd get a lot more out of a collection of songs to be able to understand what the musician is doing.
Writing songs is really about writing. It's not about necessarily focusing on one particular style or making it one particular thing.
I hate that if you do one style of music or become really well known for that one song, that everything that comes after has to fit that mold.
So it's not so much that I set out to do something different, it's just that the songs themselves require their own individual voice and attention.
I don't think I've ever laid out a batch of songs that pick myself apart the way that these do.