A Quote by Van Dyke Parks

I realized I couldn't get bookings as a performing artist on the road, as it were, I could not make a living in music without going on the road, but I couldn't get booked without a new product. People say, "Where's your new album?" Well, I have no new album, and I'm not going to have a new album. They said, "What are you doing?" I'm performing music that I've done my entire life that I've never performed, and I'm promoting material that I haven't promoted.
With this new album, I prepared for it a long time, and I was happy with the songs and the production. I felt that I proved myself with the first album, and with this new album, I just want to share some of my music. And that was always my feeling and my intention.
What happens when I'm making a new album is I try not to listen to music that's coming out at the time. I turn off the radio and don't read any music blogs, because I tend to get really distracted by new music. When I hear it, I think, "Should I be doing that?"
With my solo music, I really try to step out of the box and do stuff I don't get to do with the boys. I wanted it to be fun, rock-infused and try some new things while going back to my roots. "All American" the song is one of my favorites from the album, which is why I chose to title the album after it. To me, it's the perfect song to represent the feel of the album.
We've never been a band that gets up on stage and says, 'OK, we're going to play our entire new album.' Of course we want to introduce new music, but we also want to play the songs people want to sing along with.
I was doing these music videos online for a couple years, and they'd be doing well to varying degrees. And I released an album, and with the album, I released three new music videos, and one of them was featured on Jezebel.
I only wrote one song in jail. But I'm writing new album - you're going to feel the entire 11 months of what I went through on this album. I'm venting my anger.
All I really wanted to do was make an album that was going to be just back to what I like to do... And it was a coincidence that these new bands, this new wave of bands, were doing Alice and Iggy rock.
A lot of times with artists from back in the day, they do a new album and they don't sell as much. People say they love them, and it doesn't always translate to new music.
We were contracted to make a soundtrack album but there really wasn't enough new material in the movie to make a new record that I thought was interesting.
The only album that I listen to upon recording a new one is my 'Cry' album, because sonically, I think it's my best album to date. But other than that, I've never listened to my records, ever.
In an odd way I thought I was lowering the bar for myself, in saying, well, I'll make a pop album. But in a way it's kind of harder to make pop music. It's like the more abstract you get with music, you get into that emperor's new clothes thing, where you can go anywhere, and just claim that your audience may not be prepared to go with you. But with pop music, I think everybody understands the form, everybody knows what it's meant to do. So I would say it's harder to write that kind of music.
I am working on current material, a new album, and that is all still my main motivation of going out and working. We haven't gotten rid of all the new stuff in favor of the old.
I didn't know how well my first album had done; it was enough to get me to do the second album, which was a continuation of the music I'd worked on and perfected.
The media has a lot of power, and everything I do is what I want people to see, whether it's putting out a new single, dropping a new album, doing a new movie or new collab with a designer - this is what I want people to see.
I told myself I'd do well by using the experience I gained during my seven years as Big Bang. In my mind, the executive producer is the person that is in charge of everything up to the point that the album comes out. So not just the music but also the music video, album artwork, photographs, and even the material the album itself would be made out of.
It is so important for me to keep authentic Cuban sounds alive. All of these great artists have changed the landscape of Latin music and it's an honor to have them on this album ["90 Millas," released in September of 2007]. I believe this album will expose a new generation to the richness of Cuban music.
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