Black-metal is my favourite. Mayhem are one of my favourite bands. But whenever Slayer comes to town, I am going to that show.
— Ruston Kelly
When I do find myself having downtime, I just put my guitar in my hands.
And there has to be a level of gratitude and a little bit of pride. But I want that pride to be quick so that I don’t soak in it too much. Because I’ve met a lot of jerks in this business. And I don’t want to be one.
When people suffer from depression or anxiety or any sort of pain/mental anguish combo, being able to take the power out of it through laughter is a pretty powerful tool.
We are all dually feminine and masculine. To give in to both of those things would strengthen us as human beings and there is such a drastic difference between men, and men who are terrified of their own femininity.
I can write about pain without experiencing pain, which I am thankful for.
Songwriting has always been a means to an end for me. That end being a tool to try to understand myself in the world and, through observation, make sense of the world.
My theory is that if I can stay present in the moment in my life as frequent as possible the artwork will be more reflective of my nature and my experiences.
I have to remind myself sometimes to look back and see what brought me to where I’m at.
A folk melody can exist uniquely but also still be somewhat familiar to you.
You can be whoever you want to be when you are writing songs.
I was writing songs, I guess, a sense of lyricism before I started picking up the guitar. Once I picked up the guitar, I felt I started expressing myself in that medium without words.
It’s a successful feeling when someone tells you that you were instrumental in helping them heal from a great wound in their life.
I feel the most centered in my life when I’m performing a song.
It seems like some of my favorite songs have almost like a nursery rhyme vibe to them.
I used to feel that if I wasn't living out my songs, I wasn't doing myself or my craft justice, and that's a dangerous way to live because then you become what you make.
