I believe in working with songs that have personal value for me. M. Ward More Quotes by M. Ward More Quotes From M. Ward I'm somebody who gets a lot of inspiration from dreams. M. Ward inspiration dream The best live recordings capture elements of surprise onstage. M. Ward element-of-surprise elements surprise I like using concrete imagery, but I don't feel that's what it's about. It's a combination of concrete and abstract to take the listener somewhere they know better than you. That's true for music, seeing a painting, watching a movie... it's all some kind of an escape. M. Ward painting kind writing If I'm writing... even a piece of a song... I write it down. If it still resonates six months down the line, a year, even five, those are the ones you put in your bag and you take to the studio. You come to realize, the ones that don't make it, they were only meant to live for that moment in your notebook or on the 4-track-and plenty of songs never get any farther than the 4-track. M. Ward notebook writing song I have a very strong belief in God. M. Ward belief-in-god strong belief I learned a long time ago that fame and money is not a ticket to happiness. M. Ward tickets happiness long I love the sound of Elmore James, the sound early guitarists like him got just by using minimal means. M. Ward guitarist sound mean I do watch 'American Idol' sometimes. It's not really that pleasurable... I take that back. It is the epitome of a guilty pleasure. Sometimes there's some good singers on that show. M. Ward singers idols watches When I started writing, I used the singing side of the production as a vehicle for melody and lyrical ideas. Eventually, that process of using my voice to bring ideas across became more complicated, and I felt I could use it more as an expressive tool. M. Ward voice writing ideas I find that the time that goes by is actually your best friend when you are making a record. The passing of time gives you perspective on what you recorded and what you wrote. If something sounds good to you 12 months after you recorded it then chances are pretty good that there's something valuable about the part or the song. M. Ward perspective song giving Certain things you have to stumble on to. They can't be preprogrammed. M. Ward certain I always prefer other people's interpretations over my own, so I'm not very quick to make explicit what exactly a song or record is about. M. Ward records song people In order to make a normal-sized record, a singer songwriter should have a couple dozen finished songs. Once they go through the process of production, the ones that scream out at you that they're finished are the ones that make the record. M. Ward couple song order I get most of my inspiration from older records and older production styles, and that ends up rearing its head in the records that I make. M. Ward records style inspiration I don't really watch TV series because I don't want to get hooked on them and have them suck up all my time. M. Ward tvs want watches The production process has a great way of bringing songs to light and that's a big part of it. M. Ward light song way I treat the act of making a record very much like working in a laboratory, experimenting with sounds and ideas. Whoever chooses to latch onto it, great; whoever doesn't, that's fine, too. The reaction always pales in comparison to the weight of the act of production. M. Ward records weight ideas When I first started making music, it was learning other peoples songs and putting them onto four-track. Like Beatles songs and stuff. When I started writing, I used the singing side of the production as a vehicle for melody and lyrical ideas. M. Ward writing song ideas As a producer, I like to bring in unexpected voices, unexpected musicians, like Watt and Joey Spampinato of NRBQ. M. Ward unexpected musician voice Every record turns into whatever the listener gets out of it. M. Ward listeners turns records
