It's really hard for me to sometimes put myself out there like 'Hey how do you feel about making music together?' because maybe I'm afraid of rejection or I don't want to put anybody out. It's the Southerner in me like 'I don't mean to bother you but do you mind making a song?'

There's a constantly applicable nature to soul music whereas sometimes pop music can be a periodical.

When I look at great works of art or listen to inspired music I sense intimate portraits of the specific times in which they were created.

The '60s was one of the first times the power of music was used by a generation to bind them together.

I haven't heard any music on the BBC World Service in a long time. Maybe I'm listening at the wrong times. But not one single piece of music.

Singing is a way of releasing an emotion that you sometimes can't portray when you're acting. And music moves your soul so music is the source of the most intense emotions you can feel.

I've studied various schools of thought... I acknowledge that some Muslims consider music prohibited but I've found a lot of evidence from the life of the Prophet to show that he allowed certainly but even encouraged music at certain times.

I like to comprehend more or less everything around me - apart from the creation of my music. It's an obsessive character trait that's getting worse. I don't switch the light on and off 15 times before I leave the room yet but something's going wrong.

Life is like music it must be composed by ear feeling and instinct not by rule. Nevertheless one had better know the rules for they sometimes guide in doubtful cases though not often.

No matter how many times people say it - 'Oh I'm just writing this for myself' 'Oh I'm just doing this for myself' - nobody's doing it for themselves! You're doing it for an audience. So whether I'm performing or writing a book or playing music it's definitely to be put out there and to be received in some way definitely.