I think I'm a vocal genius, not a musical genius. I like background vocals. I consider myself a voice, not a singer. A voice is a sound, and singing is what you do with that sound.
Interpretation
Brian Wilson distinguishes between being a 'voice,' which conveys sound, and being a 'singer,' which involves the technique of singing.
In this quote, Brian Wilson expresses his unique perspective on his artistry, emphasizing that his strength lies in his vocal abilities rather than traditional singing skills. He identifies himself more with the concept of 'voice' as a medium of expression rather than adhering to the expectations of being a conventional singer, highlighting the difference between producing sound and the art of singing itself.
In practice
A music workshop focused on vocal exploration could use this quote to inspire participants.
That's the most important thing to me - that if I'm gonna spend however long it takes to make a movie, give up 14 hours a day for however many weeks or months, then it's very important for me to know that I'm working with people who I respect and enjoy and that we're going for something together.
I always joked with my parents. I told them, 'If I don't make it as an actor, my fallback is musician.'
Elegance must be the right combination of distinction, naturalness, care and simplicity. Outside this, believe me, there is no elegance. Only pretension.
I aspire to a poetry of great formal integrity, deep passion and high intellect, and I have many models for how to do that.
One of the things I had to learn as a writer was to trust the act of writing. To put myself in the position of writing to find out what I was writing. I did that with 'World's Fair,' as with all of them. The inventions of the book come as discoveries.
There is one way that architecture is superior to sculpture, and that is scale. You can walk into a building and have it all around you.
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