I want to make an album with just great beats and big vocals and just amazing lyrics.
I can't really sing and play live, because I can't play bass efficiently and sing at the same time. If I concentrated on the vocals, I'd mess up the bass, and if I concentrated on the bass, I'd forget the lines.
I like adding little elements into the final mix. I'm more fond of the '70s glam than '80s. I have that style of vocals. . . there are a lot of pop artists who are using the glam vibe in their music. I'm part of that wave.
When I write I consider it a rhyme. In the studio I consider it laying down vocals. Onstage, I'm entertaining; I don't even think about it.
There's Eddie's conviction and his lyrics and his ideals, and he can just rock straight out. His vocals are incredible. And we all are really competent musicians.
I could definitely rock out to Kraftwerk's "Tour De France," Tubeway Army, or Gary Numan. All of that stuff has an infectious beat, but with "Oh Yeah," I can't even identify what's going on. It sounds like typewriter keys, a couple of synth notes and then this really deep "Oh yeah," which I always picture as Andre The Giant on vocals.
Writing the songs is always emotional and most of the vocals on there are the first three takes from the demos, because they give so much more. You're in that moment, so it speaks for itself.
Whenever I'm home, I haven't got any makeup on. But even in the studio, before I do vocals, I put makeup on.
For a young band about to make a record, make sure you get the vocals right.
You want to hear vocals? Go sing it.
Lately I haven't been able to write for the guitar - it'll usually start out with a melody on the bass, and I'll layer vocals. I just can't really physically hear the guitar anymore, so I'll just go into GarageBand and play around with the keys. I'll sit on a melody or some lyrics for a really long time and just play with it.
There's not a day that I don't work on vocals, have vocal coaches, go to acting classes, read books.
I had this weird, nomadic little tent with a rug over it, like a booth where I'd sing the vocals.
I write the vocals last, because I wanted to invent the music first and push the music to the level that I had to compete against it.
For me, I don't really feel like I have any particular main influences or artists that I pull from; it's more of an underlying effect of such a big range of music that I love and I identify with - and all of that plays into what I do in minimal ways. I just really try to make music that reflects my identify, which is hard to pin down and is a lot of different things. I strive to make music that is hard to describe and meshes a lot of different genres, with the vocals being the thing that ties it all together.
But when I record my next studio album, of course I'll do the lead vocals
It's just a lot of fun to be able to see your ideas come into fruition. And to see people translate the things that come out of my mind vocally. And to be able to produce vocals and give people my point of view musically. And to be able to sit in the crowd and see people sing the song that I wrote, it's an amazing feeling.
My vocals are bad, I can't sing, hey man, I wouldn't ask you to do a drum roll if your arm was falling off.
I feel like vocals are to music what portraits are to painting. They're the humanity. Landscapes are good and fine, but at the end of the day everyone loves the Mona Lisa.
The original vocals had an awful lot of work put into them at the time, and I wasn't really sure that I could better them - I don't know if I have bettered them.
