Nate Ruess Quotes

We love a good, hyped sound, but when it starts to sound insincere, that’s when I lose interest. I hope that our music, even if it sounds polished, doesn’t sound insincere.

We have this really retro vibe and style of songwriting and, personally, I wasn’t embracing the current state of music until I fell in love with hip-hop. It felt good to suddenly embrace where music was headed, and I think hip-hop is the best at that, because it feels so progressive and everybody wants to be the best.

We grew up listening to alternative music from the ’90s, and there was no shame in being on a major label and still making the music you wanted to make. I feel like rap rock came around and drew a line in the sand, and everybody that was like me ran away from that and started making indie-rock.

Van Morrison is probably, at this point in time, my biggest influence as a vocalist. When we were making our last album I had a vinyl copy of ‘Veedon Fleece’ in the vocal booth in front of me, in the dorky sense. I think there were candles around, which is really tacky, but hey, I needed to channel Van the Man!

The Queen and Electric Light Orchestra harmonies are so distinct and fit in our songs so well sometimes, but we don’t know how to do them properly.

Running in Central Park is my favorite thing to wake up and do. I have my own specific path that I have to run every single time. There’s a little bit of OCD involved, but I love it.