Stephan Jenkins Quotes

That's what drew me to rock music in the first place - that sense of remaking the world on your own terms.

Music is the only thing in this world, with the exception of sneezing and looking at the sunset, that takes you to a place that's above the mundane. Everything else is just bullshit.

My music is so often like a lullaby I write to myself to make sense of things I can't tie together, or things I've lost, or things I'll never have.

It's important to face down your demons.

I would say, if you're a musician then you probably have some capacity and some intuition. You've got to trust that intuition and be true to what compels you. There will be a lot of things along the way that will try to remove you from that, and if you do, then I think you are diminished. If you stay with it, then you have something that's real.

I've always identified with the misfits

Sex is funny and love is serious.

I like people who have a pulse and aren't afraid to show it.

My music is my way to rearrange the world according to my own hopes.

I like that gathering moment where the music is about to begin, that moment right there. It's like jumping out of an airplane. It's that moment when the lights go out and then you're in it.

There's usually a rhythm and a melody in my head, and that creates an emotional state

I see rock music as the best example of modernday storytelling that exists in our society. Songs are narratives that help the listeners cope with the reality of life that can't be easily spoken about in everyday conversation. It is a hugely powerful process of helping people find themselves through music.

Life is cruel and unfair, my friends, and that is fact.

You make kingdoms and castles on your own.

When people come together around music, there's something ancient going on. It has to come from a genuine place and that's part of the challenge. You have to cultivate that authenticity everyday.

What we value about music and literature are the moments that they create in our minds when we encounter them.

I respect Chris Carrabba as a songwriter and I also respect his past. He's got this fierce, straight edge, kind of hardcore core. There's so many songs that people are connected to and they all came together in a kind of DIY way, which I really do respect.

Am I a rock star? Yeah, I guess.

When you're just shagging girls, you can talk about it, but once it gets real, then you don't.

Books stay with me and have shaped me and made huge impacts on my life.

I have this really beautiful Martin guitar, and it just kind of writes songs for me.

I don't really believe in palm readers and crystal balls and tarot cards, but I respond to the need for them.

I find pleasure in things that are simple.

I believe that all people are deserving of equal dignity and also equal protection. I also believe in science. And those are three things the Republican party platform doesn't believe in.

A lot of people say I wouldn't have a down day, but you look at the music and there's real melancholy.