Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" I started as a writer. I didn't play music until late in life. "

Related Quotes:

" I've never been one to learn scales and do exercises. Maybe I'm lazy, but I just don't take to that kind of thing. Learning other people's songs is enjoyable, and my fingers tend to go to new places because I'm not playing my music, the stuff that comes naturally to me. "

" The first record blew up and sold really well. 'City of Black & White' didn't sell as well, and that's when you wonder, 'Did I peak already?' "

" Getting married and really digging in with another human being can point out your greatest strengths and your greatest weaknesses. "

Getting Married

" I've never shaped or crafted my music for any specific group of people. Whoever connects with it is fine with me. I don't care where they come from. "

" New Yorkers are historically tough crowds. "

" I'm really influenced by '90s hip hop. A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul were my heroes growing up. "

" I had the lyric 'Chip Don't Go' and a few words, and my wife came in and said that it sounded like a good song. I thought I'd finish writing it up and posting it to YouTube. I didn't realize it was going to take off like it did. "

" I'm actually named Matthew William Kearney: my middle name is named after my grandfather. "

" I started writing music in a season of my life where people were telling me I wasn't defined by mistakes, and God really loved me and was fighting for me, and there was a journey to be had with that. And I don't know of a more important message. "

" I didn't start writing music until I was a sophomore in college. I would steal my roommate's guitar and sit on the front porch and kind of blend this weird spoken word and these little melodies over simple chords; that really started my whole journey as a musician. "

" I didn't know music would end up being my job, but I loved it so much I wanted to do it every day. "

" Money definitely does not equal success in recording. "

" All of my acoustic playing came from my songwriting. All of the chords I've learned and all of the voicings I play them in are a direct result of composing. "

" You write these songs which are really dear to you about your family or friends, loved ones, and then you get this call, and they say, 'It's perfect for two vampires making out in the back of a car.' It's some random TV show, and so I say, 'Oh, yeah, perfect - that's what I meant it for.' "

" I read about two reviews early on when my first record came out, and it just freaked me out, good and bad, so I've never really kept up with that side of it. "

" I think you can hear all my hip hop influences in 'Just Kids.' "

" When I barely got into college, the one thing I could do was write, so I became an English major. "

" I never wanted to be on an exclusively Christian label. "

" There's this song called 'Brad Chester,' which is like the depths of my family. It comes from a very personal place. "

" The first album was literally the first 12 songs I've ever written. "

" I love to play the songs that got me to where I am. I like to take a little bit from all of my records and mix it up. "

" Choosing an acoustic guitar for a live setting can be different from picking out one for recording. One doesn't always work for the other. The sonic properties can be vastly different. "

" Generally, the songs that are the scariest ones are the ones that people connect to. "

" I don't spend afternoons practicing my guitar to get better. I do read, though, to get inspiration for my lyrics. "

" I thought my second record was good, but it didn't have that smash hit we did on the first one that somehow found its way onto tons of formats of radio stations. "

" I do know great books help shape who I am and how I look at life. "

" I think, in a lot of ways, hip-hop is interesting to me because it's like the modern-day folk music. "

" My dad was a scratch golfer growing up. When I'm on the road, I always bring my clubs with me. "

" I love Bruce Springsteen's writing, but I grew up on '90s hip hop, like Tribe Called Quest. "

" I've had moments in my career when I've made more money and had more success than at other times, but I've realized being happy has very little to do with any of that. "