People tend to believe that I want to make soul music, which is not entirely untrue but, really, I want to be like the black Tom Waits - I don't want to make one kind of sound. — Willis Earl Beal Copy Share Image
I'd rather be somewhere building a house, if I knew how. The whole idea of being a professional artist is like a demeaning kind… — Willis Earl Beal Copy Share Image
The person on the shrine is myself. I listen to my own music constantly. I made a whole other record already. I look at… — Willis Earl Beal Copy Share Image
I think that live music is really pretentious - all of it. I hate festivals and live shows, because as soon as I get on stage, I start performing for people and it becomes about sex, banter, and skill. They're looking at me and not thinking about themselves. I'm thinking about how cool I look. It's just stupid - all… — Willis Earl Beal Copy Share
I haven't figured out how to do anything yet besides recording music - I don't even entirely know how to do that. My favorite phrase is "It takes a lot of imagination to have no talent." So it's a struggle because I struggle between thinking about whether or not I'm actually a musician, am I actually an artist. Does it… — Willis Earl Beal Copy Share
Actually, my ideal life would be to have an evergreen tree farm and, every December, I'd load them up and just stand out on… — Willis Earl Beal Copy Share Image
I think the best way to listen to my music is through recording. I would love to be one of those artists where you can go into a coffee shop and watch people pass by and then my music is in their ears. Not necessarily a sensory deprivation thing, but that's cool too. Unfortunately in order to focus on nobody… — Willis Earl Beal Copy Share
I don't know what people want. I have delusions of grandeur, but I'm not sitting here talking to you and thinking that I'm the… — Willis Earl Beal Copy Share Image
In a way, the whole music industry is just catering to the inherent esteem issues all these artists have - it lays it all… — Willis Earl Beal Copy Share Image
The only way for me to give a good performance is to make myself extremely uncomfortable - and it just so happens that being… — Willis Earl Beal Copy Share Image
I first saw Dead Man in high school, and it changed everything. That movie was like a memory to me - I would get… — Willis Earl Beal Copy Share Image
I deteriorate. I might tell you something one day and then something else another day. You fold in on yourself and that's why this… — Willis Earl Beal Copy Share Image
I don't think talent has anything to do with inspiration. Inspiration creates talent. People prioritize innate talent too much. It gives them license to walk around and act like assholes. I think I straddle a line between being innately talented and having had to put in some work. You ever go to a party where there are a lot of… — Willis Earl Beal Copy Share
