A Quote by Tei Shi

My ideal situation is to be able to call the shots and be able to work with whomever I want to work with, and really make something amazing. I'd like to crossover more to have mainstream appeal, but I recognize that the music I make isn't your typical top-40 pop record. Striking that balance is my long-term goal.
It's hard to balance all my projects because you don't really get to see a lot of family and friends. You have to sacrifice your social life and also a lot of sleep. You have to learn how to sleep off no sleep. It's like, what do you want in life? I always ask myself that. "What do you want to do when you're 40?" I don't want to work forever when I'm 40. I want to just be able to chill when I'm old. It's always been a dream of mine to have kids and make sure that they're all right.
You never know what your work is going to do, man, so really, you shouldn't worry about it. But pop stars have to worry about it, because that's their commerce. If you're not number one or selling units, you're not going to be able to make a record next year. For us, it's more like an indie-rock attitude. Put it out, work it, and see what happens. It'll have a shelf life.
I'm able to provide for my family and the people that I love with things that I never used to be able to. I'm getting to make music and work with amazing people. I just feel really lucky.
I'm glad that, despite everything, I was able to get work done and finish something. I never finish anything. So just being able to finish record and to make music is a great gift.
There are very few actors in L.A. who can call their own shots. If you're able to work on something that you actually like working on, you're a very lucky person, and if you're able to keep it going, you're very fortunate.
I think there's something antagonistic about bedroom pop. We're reappropriating pop and saying you don't have to be an ex-Disney star to make pop music. You can be from Shepherd's Bush and have spent most of your life listening to the Smiths and still make a pop record.
My goal is to be able to provide for myself and not have to worry about the daily expenses. I do want to be able to benefit from my work and make a good living, but I love it so much that I would do it for free.
I tried for a long time to make DJ-able dance tracks that were more specific to the stuff that I was playing. Ultimately, I found I wasn't really capable of doing that. The only type of music I was able to make that really made me feel something would just come straight from my heart or straight from whatever emotions I was feeling at that time.
I still want to make a pop record. I want to make a more sonically current pop record. I maybe want to make people move a little bit more.
I would never go to a studio. I need my space, you know what I mean? I need to be able to chain smoke and pace about, cry and like... spit. Just make noise, make a huge mess. I also feel like if I was concerned for the cost of the studio - like, 'this is costing 40 dollars an hour' - I wouldn't be able to work.
Luckily Ryan Murphy has a great track record of really having his finger on the pulse of pop culture in a way that very few people do. And he is able to work things into stories in a ridiculously timely way - sometimes, before anybody else thinks it's going to be a thing, he is able to create these moments on television. I was thrilled to get to work with him, and I knew he would be able to tell that story with that same energy.
I don't think I'll ever want to do pop music. I think I'll only ever want to do classical crossover because it's something that I love, and pop just doesn't work for me.
People would be surprised if they knew how shitty my recording situation has been over the years. It took a lot of work to make the music sound ok. Having space where you can't be heard is more important than not being able to hear. If you can't be heard you feel more free when you work.
It'd be negligent to say that I don't want to be at the top of the charts. Of course I do, it's proof that your song is being heard. But I think it's more about the work for me and being proud of what I'm doing in music than what people think about my music. I want to like my music before you like it. I don't want to sell anything that I don't really like. I don't want to sell myself short just to get to the top of the charts. It doesn't feel that great. Feeling proud of your work feels greater than being at the top of the charts.
My ambition is we want artists to be able to afford to create the music they want to create, and if it takes them five years to sit down and make the album they want to make, they should be able to afford that. That's my goal.
The goal is ecstasy, but I don't want to make some sort of saccharine pop music. I want to make something that's completely uncompromising: the best possible music ever made.
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