One of my strongest memories is my father playing bongos in the living room in Detroit listening to Motown radio. He was this skinny white bald guy, but he was really moved by blues and Motown and funk. Sufjan Stevens Read Quote
The spiritual ambiguity growing up made me really latch onto a faith – Protestantism – that was somewhat conventional. Everyone else was rebelling against traditions and institutions, whereas I was rebelling against the upheaval and uncertainty in my family. Sufjan Stevens Read Quote
I come from a folk tradition where you just dance however you feel comfortable. Sufjan Stevens Read Quote
It’s hard to reconcile my personal beliefs with an entire institution like the Church or the Republicans. Or with people within those political persuasions who have such different ideologies but confess the same things I confess spiritually. Sufjan Stevens Read Quote
A musician’s attempt to summarize his or her work leads to all this prescriptive chatter, or what I call the ‘Modifier’s Madness.’ A lot of adjectives working overtime. Sufjan Stevens Read Quote
My anxiety level of my own work and what I’m doing and focusing on my art and all of that stuff? That’s fundamental. Sufjan Stevens Read Quote
Audacity is central to everything I do. A lot of times I think my work is about just seeing if I can get away with it. Sufjan Stevens Read Quote
I don’t think it’s so hard to be commercial and interesting. Look at Prince, or Neil Young. Sufjan Stevens Read Quote
