Nate Ruess Quotes

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Nate Ruess

Profession : Musician

Birth : February 26, 1982

As a songwriter I hate this whole, 'If it's a sad song, it has to sound like a sad song thing.' And that goes all the way back to my days with the Format. I'm an insane narcissist, so if I have to get something off my chest, I'll get something off my chest.

Nate Ruess

I think it's really cool, but Jimmy Eat World and Gin Blossoms did it better than anyone. People don't realize just how awesome the Arizona history is, especially for alternative music. Growing up, that's all I ever wanted to be was those two bands.

Nate Ruess

My dad dragged me to a Bruce Springsteen concert as a kid. It was my first concert, but I fell asleep in the middle. My second concert was Weezer on the 'Pinkerton' tour, and 'Pinkerton' is the reason why I'm doing this.

Nate Ruess

Well, the crazy thing for me is I think out of anything that's happened in the last year, all the success, people always ask what do you guys do with the money? I don't think they realize we're not really making any money.

Nate Ruess

I picked up 'The Hunger Games' thinking it was written at my regressed reading level. I've spent hours reading it, and I'm not even halfway through. Our bass player, whose name is also Nate, ended up reading all three novels and loved them.

Nate Ruess

I knew how touring was for 10 years, but it's completely different now that things are popping off.

Nate Ruess

I don't play an instrument - I just write in my head, and I usually hear fully formed songs. 'We Are Young' turned out so much like it was in my head. But it also exceeded all my expectations.

Nate Ruess

Lately I've been falling asleep listening to 'Common One' by Van Morrison, specifically the song 'Summertime in England.' It's 15 minutes long, so to make it through the entire song is a real task unto itself, but Van has that emotional payoff that makes even his most tiresome songs more powerful than most people's entire catalog.

Nate Ruess

I don't have a Twitter or a Facebook, but that doesn't mean I'm any more productive than the rest of the world.

Nate Ruess

My girlfriend is a fashion designer. She has her own company called Rachel Antonoff. She is doing a collaboration with Urban Outfitters right now, a shoe collaboration with Bass. She sells to Barneys, stuff like that.

Nate Ruess

It's the coolest part about writing music. I don't know how other people work, but so much is derived from some amalgamation of all these different songs that I love. That's why they jump all over the place.

Nate Ruess

Van Morrison is probably, at this point in time, my biggest influence as a vocalist. When we were making our last album I had a vinyl copy of 'Veedon Fleece' in the vocal booth in front of me, in the dorky sense. I think there were candles around, which is really tacky, but hey, I needed to channel Van the Man!

Nate Ruess

The Queen and Electric Light Orchestra harmonies are so distinct and fit in our songs so well sometimes, but we don't know how to do them properly.

Nate Ruess

In a city like New York, any night can be completely different, even in a subtle way.

Nate Ruess

A lot of times when I'm writing lyrics, I just think about insecurities that I might have and turn them into a scene. Some things may be true, and some things may not.

Nate Ruess

Running in Central Park is my favorite thing to wake up and do. I have my own specific path that I have to run every single time. There's a little bit of OCD involved, but I love it.

Nate Ruess

I prefer to connect with fans from the stage. Like, I don't have a Twitter page, or anything like that. So for me, that's what the show is about. For me - is a way to interact with fans; being up onstage and showing them, through music - which is all I really know - the best way to say thank you.

Nate Ruess

I was signed at 19 years old to a major label, and dropped by the time I was 22.

Nate Ruess

I always wanted to be a singer, but none of my friends thought I could sing.

Nate Ruess

If you can make the song a soundtrack to what you're living at the time, I think that's the most important part of a song.

Nate Ruess