◦Musicians & quotes

"Be inspired, not intimidated"

“‎Pop music is kind of just like casual sex. There’s no real emotional interference.”

"The only way to really know anything is if you taste it for yourself, whether it's me or your friends or just the world. You can't leave it up to the media, to magazines, to TV, to MTV to feed you life—it's somebody's corporate fiction."

"The most audacious thing I could possibly state in this day and age is that life is worth living. It's worth being bashed against. It's worth getting scarred by. It's worth pouring yourself over every one of its hot coals."

"Sensitivity isn't about being wimpy. It's about being so painfully aware that a flea landing on a dog is like a sonic boom."

"Just feeling is a subversive act. Expressing it is rebellious."

"The thing is that I want it all next week, right now, this millisecond. The leader, the instigator, the creator, the cold origination; life should sparkle and rush, burn with fire, hot like melting steel, like freeze-burn from a comet. Be seriously involved with growing, with your own development, and never fear. Be the kind of person who is naturally powerful, positive, ingenious, open, to the highest degree, but with no interest in coersion or pressure or power over other people. That kind of power is hollow. It contains nothing and brings you nothing in the long run. BE THE BEST. NO NEGATIVITY, NO WEAKNESS, NO ACQUIESCENCE TO FEAR OR DISASTER, NO ERRORS OF IGNORANCE, NO EVASION FROM REALITY."

"I admit it, for a time I delved into the evils of what being a guitar player can bring, what I call the God of Wank syndrome. Every kid does it. When I first got a guitar I used to put my marbles on it and listen to them rolling down my guitar—that's more like what I play like now. The guitar is a mysterious instrument, but a lot of the mystery has gone or has been hidden. It's like when people have real hard, meaningless sex all the time they become insensitive—to me that's like what the guitar has become. But that doesn't mean that aspect doesn't exist—you've just got to find it."

"The only way to really make it—anywhere—is to put every bit of your being into the thing that only you can provide. The only angle is the art that you choose, that only you can provide. And to do that, you have to be quiet for a long time and find out what you bring forth. You have to know what's in yourself—all your eccentricities, all your banalities, the full flavor of your woe and your joy. What does it look like? What does it feel like? What makes it different from everybody else's? It's totally subjective. You're just given the task of bringing it up."

"I think my whole generation's mission is to kill the cliche."

"I think everyone's bisexual to some degree or another; it's just a question of whether or not you choose to recognize it and embrace it. Personally, I think choosing between men and women is like choosing between cake and ice cream. You'd be daft not to try both when there are so many different flavors."

“There are certain emotions in your body that not even your best friend can sympathize with, but you will find the right film or the right book, and it will understand you.”

“I never really understood the word ‘loneliness’. As far as I was concerned, I was in an orgy with the sky and the ocean, and with nature.”

"I think the most important thing about music is the sense of escape."


"I want to be alone and I want people to notice me. Both at the same time."

"I'm afraid that reason will triumph and that the world will become a place where anyone who doesn't fit that will become unnecessary."

"Sometimes it's a form of love just to talk to somebody that you have nothing in common with and still be fascinated by their presence."

"I think art is the only thing that's spiritual in the world. And I refuse to be forced to believe in other people's interpretations of God. I don't think anybody should be. No one can own the copyright to what God means."

"I also think Facebook is a laughable farce and increasingly I feel as if we are losing touch faster and more effectively with each other as we find more and more meaningless ways to “poke” one another instead of picking up the phone and saying I love you"

"Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend."

"I figured out it was a social thing, what women were allowed to do. At a very young age, I decided I was not going to follow 'women's rules'."

"Other people will call me a rebel, but I just feel like I'm living my life and doing what I want to do. Sometimes people call that rebellion, especially when you're a woman."

"Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery.
None but ourselves can free our minds!."

“Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you. When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself. Never do they hurt your feelings or make you feel like you are not good enough, but rather they build you up and show you the things about yourself that make you special and even beautiful. There is never any pressure, jealousy or competition but only a quiet calmness when they are around. You can be yourself and not worry about what they will think of you because they love you for who you are. The things that seem insignificant to most people such as a note, song or walk become invaluable treasures kept safe in your heart to cherish forever. Memories of your childhood come back and are so clear and vivid it’s like being young again. Colours seem brighter and more brilliant. Laughter seems part of daily life where before it was infrequent or didn’t exist at all. A phone call or two during the day helps to get you through a long day’s work and always brings a smile to your face. In their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation, but you find you’re quite content in just having them nearby. Things that never interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to this person who is so special to you. You think of this person on every occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind or even a storm cloud on the horizon. You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you. You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end. Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile. Your only hope and security is in knowing that they are a part of your life.”

“You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She's not perfect - you aren't either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break - her heart. So don't hurt her, don't change her, don't analyze and don't expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she's not there.”

“You say you love rain, but you use an umbrella to walk under it. You say you love sun, but you seek shelter when it is shining. You say you love wind, but when it comes you close your windows. So that's why I'm scared when you say you love me.”

“Just because you are happy it does not mean that the day is perfect but that you have looked beyond its imperfections”

"Surrealism had a great effect on me because then I realised that the imagery in my mind wasn’t insanity. Surrealism to me is reality."

"For the world to be interesting, you have to be manipulating it all the time."

"It's not the destination that matters. It's the change of scene."

"Each generation wants new symbols, new people, new names. They want to divorce themselves from their predecessors."

“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can't be any large-scale revolution until there's a personal revolution, on an individual level. It's got to happen inside first.”

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”

“A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself.”

"Just because something might not have a deep philosophical meaning doesn't mean it's not important or relevant."

"The creative process is a quest for the ultimate sensual, mystical and cathartic experience and the vehicle for my psychic purging."

"I always had a repulsive need to be something more than human."

"Artists are traditionally resistant to labels."

"Never let go of that fiery sadness called desire."

“Please, no matter how we advance technologically, please don't abandon the book. There is nothing in our material world more beautiful than the book."
(Acceptance speech, National Book Award 2010)

“We used to laugh at our small selves, saying that I was a bad girl trying to be good and that he was a good boy trying to be bad. Through the years these roles would reverse, then reverse again, until we came to accept our dual natures. We contained opposing principles, light and dark.”
(Just Kids)

“I immersed myself in books and rock 'n' roll, the adolescent salvation ...”

As far as I’m concerned, being any gender is a drag.

“All I can be is me. Whoever that is.”

“Gonna change my way of thinking, make my self a different set of rules. Gonna put my good foot forward and stop being influenced by fools.”

“I'm against nature. I don't dig nature at all. I think nature is very unnatural. I think the truly natural things are dreams, which nature can't touch with decay.”

“Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.”

“People disagreeing everywhere you look makes you wanna stop and read a book.”

"Some days my heart is extremely confused, some days it feels nothing, some days it’s overwhelmed with getting older, and some days it goes crazy. The only thing that probably gives my life meaning is knowing that I may have made someone happy with my music."

"Internet is homogenizing everything"

"I like to find the beauty in the ugly. When I'm in a thrift store, I gravitate toward pieces I know I'll wear a ton, and insane pieces that I'm sure most people would consider gross. But I find them inspiring. Our van is currently stocked with some of my random findings from this tour. Maybe I'll call my aesthetic 'van fashion."

"We weren't put here to be miserable. We were put here to do the best we can, and we should take our energy and improve our state of being."

"I'm a feminist so certain things about music I find frustrating. I think pop is scarily powerful. There are a lot of shock tactics these days: people trying to outdo each other, which will probably culminate in two people f**king onstage at the Grammys."

"She's great, but I listened to that Lana Del Rey record and the whole time I was just thinking it's so unhealthy for young girls to be listening to, you know: "I'm nothing without you." This sort of shirt-tugging, desperate, don't leave me stuff."

"Everyone is so obsessed with how everything looks, how the party will look through a lens the next day. We all have Tumblr and we all have Instagram and everything. People care so much about it because, now, any random can be famous on the internet if their world looks good on Tumblr."

"I think women who say, 'No, I'm not a feminist - I love men,' I think that is just...You don't know what it means. You think it means that, 'I don't shave under my arms, I burn my bras. Fuck men!' How could you be so uneducated, and so unwilling to learn about something which is so important to you?"

Being pansexual i define it as someone who sees people for who they are and not gender. I don’t base all of my relationships off of sex. I’m still a virgin, I don’t really care about that. I care about connecting with people on a deeper level and actually having something to talk about and something to work for— something we’re both interested in. It’s viable, you know? I want something deep-rooted versus having something that’s just rooted in literal sexual tension. It doesn’t really mean anything to me. To kind of identify as pansexual, to me, means to just want love. To have a connection with anyone you can find it with.

“Everyone’s got their own character, and that’s the thing that’s amazed me about guitar playing since the day i first picked it up. everyone’s approach to what can come out of six strings is different from another person, but it’s all valid.”

“If you end up with a boring miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your shit, then you deserve it.”

“Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.”

"Hip-hop and electronic music are so similar, in the fact that they're both very visceral, have so much bass; a lot of times, it's the same tempos. The culture and some of the sound design is different but a lot of times, it's the same stuff."