Vocals Quotes

(about recording a song with boyfriend Justin Timberlake for her third album) I have to say I was a little nervous at first. I`m used to producers going in there and it`s like work. And, I go in and I work and I do my vocals and work. And, I thought that it was awkward at first because I was nervous recording with him doing my vocals, but then I just totally forgot that he was my boyfriend, and I just said "Britney, just do the vocals, don`t be nervous, don`t be retarded like this." But, it ended up being fine, actually. At the very end, I got the best vocals I`ve ever done.

"In Guns N` Roses, I would come up with an idea for a song and the first thing that would always happen was Slash getting hold of it and going chunka-chunka-chunka! I`d be going, `OK, it`s already changed a little bit.` Then Axl would come in and go, `We`ve gotta dd more lyrics, we`ve gotta have more vocals, more back-ups, let`s layer this`. So by the time it was finished it was like, `holy shit! What a monster!`"

I think one of the things about writing in the studio is that the song hasn`t matured, if you like, so quite often the vocals are early attempts. Whereas once you`ve taken it out on the road a bit, you learn more about a song.

I`m making a record that`s half stripped down acoustic which is the way I perform a lot and half of it is very produced. It`s really hard to keep music simple but I was trying to keep it simple and focus on one or two instruments and vocals.

After doing the research with all the vocals on Medúlla, I was very curious to take that further to a place that was not narrative. Then, when Matthew explained that the film happens on the ocean, I was curious to make vocal patterns that were sort of oceanic. My music is very much about structure, whereas Matthew is much more abstract. I have to have a map and a compass to see the . nal point before I start the journey, and then I can meet 10 lions or whatever. (Telegraph interview, 21/07/2005)

Oh, it was, you know, whatever. I`d rather not. If you don`t have anything nice to say, don`t say anything, really. There were times when we really got along and I learned a lot of things from him but there were a lot of times when he`s in his own world where he thinks he knows what`s best and he doesn`t know what`s best, really. It just wasn`t fun to do and it wasn`t a fun record to make. The music turned out rad. It`s just when you`re making a record, especially when you`re working on vocals, I`ve only worked with a couple of producers and most of the records I`ve done with Terry Date . The reason we chose Ezrin is because we wanted to do something different, but I learned that different isn`t always good. If we want to make a different album, it`s something that we do on our own, not something some producer comes in and says we should do.

If you don`t have anything nice to say, don`t say anything, really. There were times when we really got along and I learned a lot of things from him but there were a lot of times when he`s in his own world where he thinks he knows what`s best and he doesn`t know what`s best, really. It just wasn`t fun to do and it wasn`t a fun record to make. The music turned out rad. It`s just when you`re making a record, especially when you`re working on vocals, I`ve only worked with a couple of producers and most of the records I`ve done with Terry Date . The reason we chose Ezrin is because we wanted to do something different, but I learned that different isn`t always good.

All my vocals were recorded at home, which was great for me. You can actually have a studio in a computer program called ProTools. I did half the record with ProTools.

There are a lot of people using technology that are playing to a click with backing vocals already stuck in there on some computerized thing that runs along in time to the show so they have these amazing vocals that are only partly the guys on stage producing them at the time.

We were gradually playing larger venues and in the early days PA systems were kind of non-existent. So to play loud, we had to use louder equipment. The PA systems back then didn`t mic the instruments - only the vocals.

But when I record my next studio album, of course I`ll do the lead vocals.

I`m tired of being around men all the time. I`m going to start a band called Skirt with three girls and I`ll play the guitar and sing backing vocals in drag. I went window shopping when I was in New York, saw a lot of amazing dresses.

Music always comes first in everything that I`ve been involved with. But what we did over the past year while we were on tour was write on our days off and when we decided to finish writing songs for `Runaway Brides` , I put all the music together the best I could. Then London ( LeGrand , vocals) had all the music for about a month. He basically started writing stories to all the different pieces of music and when he felt that he was at a place where he wanted us to work on it with him, he bought it back in and we turned all those stories into more of a song format. That was a little different. It was something new for me doing it that way. It`s a little bit more artistic in the end.

The song is Texas having a fresh look at that Giorgio Moroder vibe of uplifting electronic pop but with sexy slow vocals. I wanted to combine modern sounds with a real Billie Holliday kind of feel. When I was growing up my dad would be away at sea and my Mum, my sister and I would be at home blasting disco and Abba alongside her old Billie Holliday albums. I knew the spirit I wanted. I knew I could emulate that Billie Holliday sensibility - not the framed icon with the beautiful flower in her hair, but the slightly dark woman on the edge, this tortured brave singer who struggled around this merciless music circuit. It`s a bit of a homage from my heart.

If I`m playing with Ozzy it`s just a guitar thing. But with the vocals I feel like I`m studying for the SATs.

The only time it dominates is during a solo, or when we play a low blues and I put figures in behind Eric`s vocals. There`s never any real problem fitting guitar and organ together.

(McBride enlisted Dwight Yoakam to sing harmony vocals on) Heartaches by the Number, ... I Still Miss Someone.

Andy and I had a extreme view about what we wanted, ... We didn`t want the music to be shrouded in mystery. We wanted every instrument to sound like itself, instead of double tracking guitars or harmonising the vocals. It was that pursuit of authenticity that Andy and I were looking for. So, apart from a bit of reverb we wouldn`t use any tricks.

(Xiu Xiu have a taste for discord '” atonal arrangements filled with foghorns, tape hisses, and violent beats and topped off by Stewart's whispery vocals and the melodrama of his confessional lyrics. The latter have inspired open-mouthed fandom from sensitive scenesters who find solace in his pain, and attacks from critics as being cloying and histrionic.) People have thrown lit cigarettes at me and audiences have yelled all kinds of nasty shit, ... Then there are also people who drive 800 miles to come see us play and ask if they can come sit in our van for three days because they don't have a bus ride home.

I don`t believe that recordings should sound radically better than the artist, I think that`s dishonest. For example, I`m not a great singer but if I spent enough time tweaking my vocals, I could sound like one. But I don`t, what you hear is pretty much what I sing.

Stacey`s realistic lyrics and vocals are easily understood; soothing and gentle in parts, but angry and outspoken in others. Stacey has a lot to say and sings it well!

It was raw and powerful. It certainly lacked the professional polish to it that a Hollywood record producer could bring to it, but the depth of his voice and the intense emotions contrasted with the incredibly sweet background vocals.

We`re getting super radly awesome close to being done. We finally finished backing vocals and they came out totally 100% neat. I made plenty of super cool faces while I was singing, like this one where I had my eyes all clenched tight and then I hit this high note and looked up to the sky and slowly raised my fist like Whitney Houston in "I Will Always Love You". Another time, I ate all the cheese bagels and Adam was mad. In other news, we had a photo shoot today for the album artwork in this old abandoned building. Here`s what happened to me there: I stepped on a dead mouse, sat in a stinky pigeon nest, and set my glasses down in crack head puke.