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Artist Quotes


"You are born an artist or you are not. And you stay an artist, dear, even if your voice is less of a fireworks. The artist is always there."


"You get used to it when you feel like you're an artist."


"A lot of artists who have a certain style are expected to more or less keep doing their style. It's so easy to get into that rut of production."


"There was never any effort made out there to improve the artist."


"There's a great difference between being popular and being an artist."


"If he's a true symphony artist, he knows better than that because he knows that the only truly creative musician is the jazz musician."


"I helped found Artists for New South Africa, but it used to be called Artists for Free South Africa. Alfre Woodard and a bunch of us started this."


"When you actually meet the devil and he offers you a deal most artists eventually negotiate."


"Just as the bird sings or the butterfly soars, because it is his natural characteristic, so the artist works."


"Creative Artists Agency put together a project of extraordinary mediocrity and colossal stupidity. Otherwise, it was great."


"In general, I don't feel artists should need producers."


"Seeing how those companies operate, it didn't amount to a massive vote of confidence in their artists. There was talk of me going to Columbia after that, but nothing happened. I got disillusioned, and I pulled back."


"As an artist I'd choose the thing that's beautiful more than the one that's true."


"There were a lot of choices to make and I always picked artist. I never once picked doctor, lawyer, firemen or something like that. It was always artist."


"I like to make records sound good. I'm more like a reducer than a producer. If an artist cannot produce themselves, what's the point?"


"I've never been able to say I've been influenced by a list of artists I like because I like thousands and thousands and I've been influenced in some way by all of them."


"A producer should only be there to enable an artist to be himself."


"To the extent that '60s guys own things, yes... but I don't have the publishing, just like most '60s guys, and that was an error, you know... part ownership in publishing was the kind of era that started a little bit later, when real businessmen started to manage artists."


"Of course we've been fighting against stereotypes from Day One at East West. That's the reason we formed: to combat that, and to show we are capable of more than just fulfilling the stereotypes - waiter, laundryman, gardener, martial artist, villain."


"But, when I toil in the field of Jewish culture which I frequently do, I am indeed a Jewish artist."


"It's nice to get a response from the artists that I cover."


"Artists are very young, and say, Um, ok, to these industry dudes."
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