I've only ever been in one band in my life, and that was in middle school.

Anderson East

Categorized in : My Life School Life Band

I love country music, but I also love gangster rap.

gangster music love country

We don't do lots of jamming on stage, but I think we have the attitude of exploring things and trying something new.

new think attitude trying

I love seeing people smiling, dancing. There's enough sadness in the world, man.

man sadness love people

That's the biggest part of going to church. You just learn how to hide your bad in front of people.

bad you church people

My whole goal is to be honest and sincere with the music I'm making.

sincere honest music goal

I'm a huge closet Mariah Carey fan - she's got one of the best voices probably ever.

fan she got best

As a solo artist, it's so easy to be lumped into a singer / songwriter genre and writing sleepy, sad songs that are very emotionally rich that mean a lot to you, and people just get kind of tired.

you sad tired people

There is a healthy amount of self-doubt and criticism with most people that make music. You find your areas that are your best. Onstage, I am good. But talking to someone in the grocery store? Forget about it.

i-am best good music

I don't think there is a clear-cut avenue for what I do, and I am OK with that. I am just a lover of music.

i-am just think music

Music was kind of a precious commodity growing up.

precious up growing-up music

I kind of tried my hand at sports and school, and I wasn't very apt at either one of those things.

tried things sports school

You can't take a kid from north Alabama and growing up in church - some of that is just gonna seep out.

some you growing-up church

'Anderson' is what I've been called since I was a kid; my mom is about the only person who calls me 'Mike.'

person kid me mom

I've tried to do the sad-bastard thing for long enough. I just want to have a good time.

good enough time long

You have to be delusional to get into this business, you know?

get know you business

It's hard lovin' folks sometimes, isn't it?

folks hard sometimes

It's really hard for me to be open and be completely honest with a stranger.

open me hard stranger

It's all about being comfortable, forgetting there's a microphone in front of you.

forgetting being you comfortable

I have the purest intent when it comes to love. But it doesn't always work out that way. That's the truth. But you know, it's still pretty fun when you're in the moment.

moment truth work love

It's always difficult to be a traveling musician and still keep things together.

things always difficult together