Singer Songwriters

"Two months later she said come and get your son"

"Przetańczyć z tobą chcę całą noc Niech na nas gapią się, no i co? Już każdy o tym wie, że ty też kochasz mnie Więc wszystkim na złość przetańczmy tę noc Bo życie tak krótkie jest Ja za tę noc chętnie oddam pięć najpiękniejszych lat Nie liczy dni, kto szczęście swe śnił11 Stąd taki gest dzisiaj mam"

"Zawsze gdzieś czeka ktoś, tak już jest, tak musi być Czy w pogodne, czy w deszczowe dni Zawsze gdzieś czeka ktoś i, by miłość mogła wejść Trzyma dla niej wciąż otwarte drzwi"

"Tyle słońca w całym mieście Nie widziałeś tego jeszcze Popatrz o popatrz! Szerokimi ulicami Niosą szczęście zakochani Popatrz o popatrz! Wiatr porywa ich spojrzenia Biegnie światłem w smugę cienia Popatrz o popatrz!"

"Tak mało trzeba nam i dużo tak Żeby szczęśliwym być, drugiemu szczęście dać Wystarczy ciepło rąk, muśnięcie warg Wystarczy, żeby ktoś pokochał nas Żeby szczęśliwym być i szczęście dać Tak mało trzeba nam i dużo tak"

"And I don't think that parents can teach anything at all. A child is a person with his own destiny, and it seems to me that we attach too much importance, so to speak, to the formation of personality by the parents. Parents can educate there, whatever they want, and the personality is formed by itself, under the influence the environment... But one and the same environment affects some in this way, others in a different way ..."

"Russia is a popular theme in France right now, in terms of Soviet memorabilia and stuff like that. But there isn't really a serious approach to Russia, we’re like matryoshka dolls to them: 'Hey, look, Russians can play guitars almost like we do'. A lot of bands have taken the opportunity to tour abroad, consciously accepting the fact that they will be touring on bad terms in terms of both pay and concerts. I didn't want to be a matryoshka doll. The problem isn't so much the money, it's the prestige of the country. If you want to go abroad, it's best to go as a tourist."

"I want to be myself everywhere - both on the movie screen and at a concert, do you understand? The most important thing for me is to maintain the self-esteem and freedom that I have now. But it is very difficult to save. You have to fight all the time. And if the question becomes that I will have to play music that I don’t want to play, but that people will like, it would be dishonest to play it, right?"

"The main thing is to remain yourself, and this is impossible for a professional actor. Although it is difficult to think ahead. It seems to me that cinema and music, complementing each other, can coexist in my life."

"The most interesting thing for us is the work of independent record companies. Most often, music "for sale", music for dancing comes to us. The ears get used to the standards. And independent companies have a small circulation of records of groups that are not guided by standards. It's closer to us."

"The most important thing is that we would like people to reach some kind of mutual understanding, so that these huge mixed nationalities, religions, social order, finally understand each other, if possible ... And then everything would fall into place, and there are no more desires would not be."

"Almost everyone can forgive us for honesty: and, say, not enough professional game, and even not enough professional verses. There are many examples of this. But when honesty disappears, they forgive nothing."

"I feel that now I can’t always reach an understanding with someone, especially with people of an older generation. I find it difficult in this situation, because they think differently. Naturally, people cannot think alike, but they must understand each other. That's why they are people."

"It is more important for me to preserve some self-respect and some inner freedom, which I now have, but it is very difficult to preserve it, I have to fight all the time with all sorts of temptations. And I fight with them ... If the question is put in such a way that I will have to play music that I do not want to play, but which people like, then it would be unfair to play it, for me it would be a temptation."

"Almost everything can be forgiven to those who are honest. Say, for example, if we [Kino] play our music in an unprofessional manner, or sing our songs in an unprofessional way – and we have made countless mistakes of this kind – our fans will overlook this, but, if we do not try our best to be honest our fans will never forgive us."

"I think we all have handicaps — physical, mental, emotional or from situations into which we are born but of which we have no control. But we have to be careful not to listen to people who tell us that we can’t do this or that. If you are stupid enough to let that really sink in, then it’s true. You won’t be able to do anything. But I was always a rebel."

"There is not any kind of meaning in the lyrics, in fact it was an attempt at completely deconstructing reality."

"I don't even want people to say I'm the godfather of Chinese rock music. I would like to say I'm the grandson of Chinese rock music. I want to keep doing something, I don't want to sit there and tell people what you should do. I don't like that."

"For the young people now, the going to the concert or the going to follow some big stars - unfortunately, now, you know, they don't want message anymore. They want be a part of economic developing. They don't care about message now."

"If you’re singing and writing lyrics in Chinese, then you’re making Chinese music. You have your own story and you try to tell your own feelings, which are different from older generations’—different from the revolution. We were the first generation to try and express our own feelings. You can say this is Western, but I would say it’s human. Anyways, it doesn’t matter. I’m playing rock music and I’m singing in Chinese. That’s it."

"When I'm holding a guitar, I got a little more confident. You know, actually, before that, I would say I was a shy guy. You know, I was trying to looking for some better way. And then finally, I found a guitar and I really can sing. And people give more attention on me and I thought, "OK, this is the thing I will do forever"."

"I want to give a serious message in the pop music. Right now, I think most of the rock and roll music - they just don't want touch this. You know, they think this is not fashion anymore. And that the young people will think this not cool. I think this a part of rock and roll music - good melody, good energy, and good message."

"I think that music festivals, clubs, and record companies can really change the Chinese music scene, but I believe there is no festival or record company doing a good job in China. I think the Chinese listening culture is more viewing-like. Everybody takes care of how he/she looks like. They don't care about what they sound like. It could be pretty bad, but there is hope."

"I think the biggest enemy in this country is the corruption. I think everybody will - now they learn it."

"We were constantly testing to see how far we could go, testing the aesthetic limits of society, and those of the old cadres too. We felt that if we couldn’t upset them, we weren’t doing it right. We’d be like, really? You’re upset at such a little thing? On the other hand. Every so often, we didn’t get a reaction and we’d be surprised at our luck."

"I like Hip-Hop music. I like electronic music. I like, you know - I can get a lot of energies from the young people."

"I think rock music is more personal for me. I have more freedom. I can show more of my personal emotions in rock and roll music. With classical music, I can only play something that is written already."

"I had a lot of friends who worked in foreign embassies so I had the chance to exchange music tapes. That's the way I listened to a lot of rock music at that time"

"I don't really want to talk about the old stuff - I really don't think it's important any more. I have a lot of new songs, which are more important to me"

"Some Chinese are slaves to Western culture, others look East. I say fuck all of them and be yourself. That’s what I like about rock ‘n’ roll. You can talk straight."

"Fear is part of the culture of this country and has been for the past 50 years. But in America everyone is fearful too, just for different reasons. Maybe now it’s the same everywhere. Anyways, I may be afraid, but I usually try to answer questions without putting myself in danger. I just don’t want to lie. Journalists always expect me to answer that black is black or white is white, but if you get to know China you’ll understand that no one answer is ever right. It’s all gray."

"I can't think of someone who has ever been more worthy than Cui Jian for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He's Woody Guthrie or Bruce Springsteen, whose songs made people suddenly realize that there are things going on about which we don't know and ought to, and singing with the voice of the people not often represented in popular culture."

"Talking about capitalism and communism isn’t really important or relevant anymore. Money isn’t proof that capitalism is right — money is money. Nobody really cares about these concepts, not even the government. They’re all just tools. I do think people of this generation talk more about control, education, the environment. Nobody talks about capitalism or socialism anymore though. It’s all mixed up together."

"His lyrics evoked alienation, a craving for personal freedom and sexual desire. His voice was a deep bass growl, the likes of which few outside the tiny, nascent Beijing rock scene had ever heard."

"To be the person stand behind the camera observing other people is really interesting, it gives me a great sense of freedom."

"My generation was born in the early 60s or a few years earlier. My parents’ generation carried guns and gained control of the country. We’re the first generation under them, so we call ourselves the revolution’s generation."

"Eventually, the success of our job depends on fans' support, and I want them to take a long time before they evaluate our performances. I think fans will feel our enthusiasm and I want to live up to their expectations."

"As far as I'm concerned, I don't really care much about it. Then what's the best performance? I think I should just do 120% of what I can do now and I believe that what needs to be done will come when it needs to be done. In other words, I think, " Now, eight years later, there must be a point to doing this." In the first place, the work itself is like a twisted time and space, like there is no time at all. And since we are voice actors, we only need to use our mental faculties and a little bit of our physical voice. It's not good to be too proud, but I tried not to think about the eight years."

"Rather than to make a living, hmmm. Whether I could become a voice actress or not, is was too uncertain, and I thought the possibility that I could become a voice actress was very small. I was familiar with the work of nurses from my childhood because of my family business, so I decided to become a nurse. But I happened to find a magazine Debut, and from that moment all of the things worked well and I thought perhaps I really could become a voice actress."

"Because of the fast pace of the industry, it’s common to fill voice actors’ schedules with as much work as possible, get them up on stage, and build up all the buzz you can. That’ll make you feel like you’re an absolutely essential individual, but in just three years all that could change. I don’t want companies to go chasing after small yet quick and easy profits, but they don’t really have any intention of developing voice actors long-term."

"Anime in the ‘90s was overflowing with ambition…Anime [today] which are trying to be similar to previous hits can never be better than the originals. Going forward, I want to be part of projects that aren’t trying to be ‘like’ something that came before."

"Maybe I’m just dense, but I didn’t even realize that a boom was happening. I might have felt like it was a boom if it was as natural as how you’d see certain products every time you stopped by the convenience store – not seeing watermelons only in the summer, but something that would always be on the shelves throughout the seasons. Discounting the anime shops, you’d rarely get to see anime songs on display in HMV or Tower Records. It felt like [anime was] being given the cold shoulder. Anime songs are too much of a niche genre which means that the CDs are in the same way, only sold in niche retailers. People who liked me were embarrassed about it, telling me that “I can’t openly admit that I like you” – with that kind of situation, I couldn’t really feel that there was a boom at all."

"It may have brought positivity in terms of the effect on the economy, but for every boom there will be a bust. However, nobody expects the bust to happen. Before it does go bust though, another boom will come along. Booms are only good when you observe them from afar. You’ll only be hurt if you get caught in its midst."

"I believe that when you leave one genre and become a performer of another, things change. I have been part of the relatively new movement where you come out with a salsa record, for instance, and the anticipated hit comes with a ballad version and another pop version. I like that because this way I can reach many more people who may otherwise be limited by the genre."

"Just to really embrace who they are. What I feel has been working for me right now is just the fact that I embrace who I am. I embrace my culture and where I come from. You have to be very patient and very positive and never lose your hope. It's hard. I know a lot of people who just bail on their careers. If you really analyze it, there are so many people in the world, and only a couple make it as actors. You just have to focus on the positive."

"I don’t really like to talk about politics, I just find it hilarious…. You know I’m very proud of where I come from and my heritage. I know that we’re a very hard-working culture, we work so hard to be where we are. We are disciplined, we are determined. I just really get offended when people try to mock us in any way because I don’t find it hilarious in any way. Because it’s a struggle. The struggle is real, let’s say that."

"The feeling is the same. You close your eyes and you are on the stage and you feel that warmth from the people."

"There's a moment in everybody's life...where you have more past than future, and then you better start organizing your time. So I thought maybe this is the time to do this. I'm not keen on people following me and recording my life and asking personal questions and what-not, but I figured I had to do it."

"Everything was a bigger struggle for me, everything required a bigger effort, so I understood that the sole basis for my future was discipline, and I maintain that discipline today, at 75...I mean, going out onstage to sing is an act of discipline and of absolute passion. Passion is natural, but discipline is willpower."

"I like to think of it as like watching The Godfather...You might have seen it 1,000 times, but when it comes on it makes you stop. Each time you see it, you find something different. That’s what I want people to get from my music."