I have my privileges, but I do feel like at every turn there is such resistance.
MITSKII think it’s our responsibility as artists to not only fight for our art but fight for the communities that are the reason we’re able to continue making art, especially since, in Brooklyn’s case, we as artists somehow made it ‘cool’ enough for the bigger money-making industries to start taking over.
More Mitski Quotes
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I think what’s hard for me is not that I don’t get downtime to chill, it’s that I don’t get time to make music.
MITSKI -
I didn’t fit in anywhere when I grew up, but I was always American, so to survive,
MITSKI -
I think it’s our responsibility as artists to not only fight for our art but fight for the communities that are the reason we’re able to continue making art, especially since, in Brooklyn’s case, we as artists somehow made it ‘cool’ enough for the bigger money-making industries to start taking over.
MITSKI -
I hate that my opinions are gonna be on record… that my opinions of other artists are going to be on record.
MITSKI -
Music was the one thing that was just mine, and no one could take it from me. I created it, dictated it, and it made me not able to let go of it.
MITSKI -
On tour, I don’t drink, because I don’t think in any other job you are supposed to get to work and drink whisky.
MITSKI -
I understand that, because there are so many musicians, you have to make artists into brands, but I sometimes feel like I have to be some kind of non-human icon in order for people to listen to my music.
MITSKI -
The whole ‘grunge-girl’ comparisons certainly are the easiest to pick out, and I appreciate that music journalists are rushed.
MITSKI -
I have a very conveniently photographic memory of emotions – it’s overwhelming, because things don’t fade for me.
MITSKI -
I’ve been asked whether I have a hobby, and have felt strangely offended that anyone would assume I have the time.
MITSKI -
I lived abroad most of my life in insular international communities.
MITSKI -
Growing up, I never really felt like anything was my own. I moved a lot, and I never belonged anywhere.
MITSKI -
It’s very tempting, when somebody says they like this about you, to want to do that over and over.
MITSKI -
All I want to do at karaoke is sing Mariah Carey.
MITSKI -
Pop artists work really hard, and they might not work for the same things that indie artists do, but they’re still musicians, and they’re still making art.
MITSKI -
When I record, it’s this very precious and insular thing.
MITSKI -
Everything is so chaotic and messy in the world, and I have always felt kind of dirty.
MITSKI -
I’m so smart. I am good at doing math really quickly in my head.
MITSKI -
When you’re young is the one time when you get to indulge in being morose and take yourself most seriously.
MITSKI -
When someone is a musician – trying to make a living off being a public figure – it’s really easy for people to see me as a face on a screen that doesn’t have a personal life.
MITSKI -
I don’t set out to write something. I more just write, and later on, I discover what it’s about.
MITSKI -
I guess you can say I ‘do the Twist.’ I like playful dance moves that aren’t too serious.
MITSKI -
I’m Japanese, and I’m also white American, and neither camp wants me in their camp.
MITSKI -
A lot of musicians talk about how they were into music from the start; they always wanted to be musicians. It wasn’t like that for me. I didn’t think of it as a job or a career – it was just something that was constant.
MITSKI -
When you’re doing something you’re not used to, you kind of realize that you’re still a kid: even though the whole world around you sees you as an adult and you’re expected to act like an adult, you still haven’t actually grown up.
MITSKI -
I can’t read in a car, because I’ll get sick. It’s almost instant.
MITSKI