I was talking to my publisher, Jamie Ceretta, who's one of my closest confidants and allies when I'm working on new music. I feel like I can always count on his judgement because he'll tell me if he doesn't like something. It's sometimes hard to get people to tell you if they don't like something.

Jim James

Categorized in : You Me People Music

When I had dinner with a friend or a loved one and one of you pays for the check and the other says, "I owe you next time." I like to think that we're eternally even - that they don't owe me anything or I don't owe them anything if you have a connection with somebody or a love with somebody. I like to think that there's no debt to pay. You love each other and you're happy to pay for dinner every time.

debt connections thinking

People always want reasons for things ... but sometimes there are... by Jim James

People always want reasons for things ... but sometimes there are no reasons.

want sometimes people

You can drive at 16, go to war at 18, drink at 21, and retire at 65. So who can say what age you have to be to find your true love?

mature-love age war

I think that live music is something that the Internet can never... by Jim James

I think that live music is something that the Internet can never kill.

internet music-is thinking

Louisville is a place with no labels. It’s not the South, it’s not Chicago, and you don’t think of it as you think of New York or LA. It has some Southern romanticism to it, but also a Northern progressivism, this weird urban island in the middle of the state of Kentucky that has always provided a fertile, often dark, bed. For us, Louisville and the surrounding areas are the center of massive creativity and massive weirdness. The place has its flaws: You move away, but you’re always going to come back.

creativity new-york moving

Don't let your silly dreams fall in between the crack of the bed... by Jim James

Don't let your silly dreams fall in between the crack of the bed and the wall.

wall dream silly

Some things cannot be explained. This is part of the magic of life. There cannot be a word or an idea or a definition attached to everything.

magic definitions ideas

Songwriting is ... all about intuition - this thing pops into your head for a reason and it's up to you to follow it. It's like there's a spirit, or intuitive network, that comes through all of us, but most people don't take the time to think about it or remember it. These little things pop into our heads - it's just a process of intuition. The initial thought comes in a baby state, and you work on that some more.

writing baby thinking

Reading is one of the greatest forms of magic available to us on... by Jim James

Reading is one of the greatest forms of magic available to us on the planet.

magic form reading

Fashion is one of the most beautiful forms of art we have. It's a form of art that every person gets to possess and create for themselves.

fashion beautiful art

I feel like hate and darkness get so much airtime. We need to give peace and love as much airtime as we can. We need to be teaching our kids that it's okay to love whoever you want to love, and it's okay to be who you want to be, and it's okay to feel that everybody should be treated equally and with respect. Such simple things that I don't know why it's hard for people to understand.

hate teaching kids

I feel lucky that I even have the luxury to write about feeling lonely or feeling confused. When you think about climate change that means that we won't have an Earth to be lonely on.

confused lonely writing

I am very blessed to have a great group of long-term friends and a huge family that has been very loving and supportive. I try to stay connected to that and contribute as much as I can.

supportive blessed long

I think one's musical life should be free and open to new experience in order to keep expanding your mind and horizons.

new-experiences order thinking

It is just so cool to play on the beach right next to the water. I am deeply moved by water as I think most people are - so to play music with it is a most powerful experience.

powerful beach thinking

Huge events in life inform you in so many ways that you know about and many other ways that you cannot even comprehend. To go through a big experience can have such a profound impact on everything that you do. It's the common thing that everyone says about a tragedy - it is a really tough thing to happen but it is amazing, and a gift, if you can look at the positive aspects that come out and the friendships that are made from the people that provided help and support.

support profound people

I think there are lots of things that people think are so different but they're not. People think there is a huge difference between hip hop and country music, but there is really not when you start looking into themes and what people are struggling with or celebrating. When you break it down to the chords and the beats it is all the same. Personally, I am obsessed with music as it is a limitless tunnel that you can explore.

struggle country thinking

I can't understand how some bands are criticized for doing something different and other bands are rewarded for doing things different. At the end of the day, I throw my hands up in the air and say, "Fk it." I've come to accept that no matter what we do, there's going to be somebody out there on the Internet that says it's a piece of st and somebody who says they really like it. That's happened with every single album we've put out.

the-end-of-the-day air hands

I'm not the kind of person that's so self-confident that I would ever think I had recorded anything great. I know that whenever we finish an album and turn it in, I know that in my deepest heart of hearts that we did the best that we could. Only time goes on to tell what I will think of it 10 years later or if people will listen to it forever or if people will get tired of it.

tired heart thinking

I think it's every artist's dream to create something that will endure, something that people will listen to until there are no more people on earth to listen to things.

artist dream thinking