Music is really all about experimentation and lots of trial and error. It's just mind-numbingly boring until you hit on something that works well.
People always want to talk about who I was, but I've always been singing, always been experimenting with pop music.
When I was playing piano, it was like, 'I'm going to write a song using all the white keys.' My music director, who knew my jazz background, suggested I try big-band music, so we spent a year experimenting with it in concert, and the audience reaction was really good.
I want my music to do the explaining.
I've been trying to challenge myself to be more explicit. I've always liked punk rock and Sonic Youth. I make that music privately, but I've never released it.
'Frampton Comes Alive!' is the album I'll always be remembered for. I'm very proud of the music that's on it. Why it exploded the way it did and continues to live on are things that can't fully be explained.
I would hate to think that some people have found themselves in a musical cul-de-sac and have ceased to explore new music, or at least music that is new to them, because they are so glued to the past.
I think that prog rock is the science fiction of music. Science fiction speculates on what the future might be and look like and how we'll get there, and yet there's always a central theme of humanity, or there should be. Progressive rock has the same concept of exploration into the parts of the music world that hasn't been explored.
Creating any type of art is all about mood. I've been making extreme music in one fashion or another for decades. And truthfully, Down has a big enough fan base to where I could remain content to do only that, but music is a vast territory and I am an explorer. And I'm a lover of all things considered extreme in music.
I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music.
My dad's family were political and he was always a theatrical creature, whereas my mum is really musical and her father was the touring pianist with Nat King Cole. My family was an explosive mixture of politics, religion and music - no wonder I turned out how I did.
To me, life is huge and thrilling and exciting and explosive and loud. If I can make music that communicates that and reflects that, then that's an achievement.
We are living in a time when American popular music is finally being recognized as one of our most successful exports. The demand is huge.
The music industry is saying, This is the format, and if you'll fit into this format, you can be on radio, and if radio will play you, MTV will expose you, and MTV will expose you, we'll sell records.
The Internet was a saving grace for promoting and exposing, and even creating. It's a parallel world to the music industry that already exists, and I'm glad to be a part of it.
Musical themes developing is a lot of what classical music is based on, and exposition and recapitulation - these kinds of things I find oppressive.
If you want to express yourself, it is difficult to be by yourself. You must have people around you who understand the same music. It is like being the chef d'orchestra. They need you, but you need them desperately.
Music expresses - you express yourself with music.
Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.
Reggae, oh man. It's the ultimate music. The positivity. The musicality. The whole cultural expressionism of it. The danceability. Just the cool factor. The melody factor. Some of it comes from a religious place. If there were a competition of who makes the best religious music, it would definitely be the Rastafarian reggae.
