Top 35 Duncan Sheik Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “It’s inevitable your environment will influence what you do.”

— Duncan Sheik

2. “I actually think sadness and darkness can be very beautiful and healing.”

— Duncan Sheik

3. “I certainly wouldn’t say that my life is a disaster, but there have been moments where I’ve felt like that.”

— Duncan Sheik

4. “I did a song, “Court and Spark,” for a Joni Mitchell tribute album that’s yet to see the light of day. So she’s someone I’d like to do something with, sure. I worked with the great guitar player Bill Frisell on Phantom Moon – that was fun. I’m such a fan; he’s amazing.”

— Duncan Sheik

5. “So I started chanting when I was nineteen, which was about twelve years ago, and it really had a huge impact on my outlook, happiness, and general creativity.”

— Duncan Sheik

6. “I also wanted to make a record that was about other things than romance, yeah, after two years on the road singing all the songs from the first album, I got kind of tired of that.”

— Duncan Sheik

7. “I privilege the music over the lyrics.”

— Duncan Sheik

8. “Happy music doesn’t tend to move me much.”

— Duncan Sheik

9. “A real foolproof way to do it is play your stuff by hook or by crook and build up a grass roots following.”

— Duncan Sheik

10. “I got a publishing deal with BMG, they were supportive, and some money to record demos.”

— Duncan Sheik

11. “I’m fortunate I have this coterie of musicians around me to help take music to next level. Being surrounded by so much creative energy, so many creative people really feeds that creativity in me.”

— Duncan Sheik

12. “And frankly, when I made that record, hit songs were not what I was trying to achieve.”

— Duncan Sheik

13. “Because of my Buddhist practice, I’m never lacking for inspiration.”

— Duncan Sheik

14. “I’d have these weird experiences where I’d just be walking down the street with this chord progression in my head, this happened more than a few times, and I’d walk home and find a fax in my machine and it would match the music in my head.”

— Duncan Sheik

15. “My first two records were more energetic; Phantom Moon is subtle, quiet; so these various reactions are just something I expected.”

— Duncan Sheik

16. “I actually am always a music first person.”

— Duncan Sheik

17. “When I was a teenager, I got into four track recorders, drum machines, and synthesizers, and I started producing instrumental music.”

— Duncan Sheik

18. “But really important, perhaps most important is the craft; how you make your record, the creation of these sonic worlds you want your listener to hear.”

— Duncan Sheik

19. “Ultimately, if I’m really moved by something, it’s going to go on the record and that’s that.”

— Duncan Sheik

20. “I try to make sure that the Buddhism is more or less implicit in the music rather than explicit.”

— Duncan Sheik

21. “My second record was all about big ideas – I was trying to make big statements about the culture, about life. I think in a certain way, I was a 27 year old kid with a guitar.”

— Duncan Sheik

22. “I feel fortunate about being able to make the music I want to make and getting away with it.”

— Duncan Sheik

23. “For my second record I had gotten ProTools and started to familiar myself with hard disc recording.”

— Duncan Sheik

24. “Lately I’ve been a workaholic. I’m in the studio all the time and I’ve helped to produce a couple of artists.”

— Duncan Sheik

25. “I think in a way I was probably completely naive about what it takes to make something become a hit.”

— Duncan Sheik

26. “I think my Buddhist practice has a profound influence on my life and encompasses my creative projects.”

— Duncan Sheik

27. “I make the kind of music I like.”

— Duncan Sheik

28. “I wouldn’t say that I’ve had a tough life by any stretch of the imagination.”

— Duncan Sheik

29. “But I can’t really say there is too much modern music that I’m blown away by at this moment.”

— Duncan Sheik

30. “I mean, at the end of the day when I’m making a record, what I want to do is what I do.”

— Duncan Sheik

31. “Simon Hale, the British arranger, does all string and wood arrangements on my records.”

— Duncan Sheik

32. “I started playing music at a pretty young age.”

— Duncan Sheik

33. “Things come to me pretty regularly. There is never a shortage or a backlog.”

— Duncan Sheik

34. “So, once I’ve written a song, you know, I’m pretty happy with what the song is on its own terms.”

— Duncan Sheik

35. “If I were to do this over I’d play a lot more shows before I made a record.”

— Duncan Sheik