“It’s just interesting how people relate my success when I would like to think that I worked my ass off for a reason and that it’s about the music and not because I was on a TV show.”

I don’t really think about what people think of my music, and how they listen to it or what my demographic is.

Make sure this [music industry] is what you love to do, and you can’t imagine doing anything else.

When I first started writing the album, “Cry Baby” was a song that I really wanted to write because it represented all of these personal insecurities that I had for a long time.

Cry Baby is a character so I think that the next album is going to be about a specific thing in her life or another place in her world. It’s going to be a bit deeper into a bigger picture.

I think, being emotional is this thing that people think you’re not strong. They don’t look at you as a strong person, and it’s weird ‘cuz honestly being emotional has nothing to do with your strength.

I obviously have a different connection to each song in a different way, and they all mean something different to me.

It’s like visual is super important to me. So if I am writing a song, like, I have to have the title.

I love directing my music videos and writing video treatments, and I think it’s all just because I love the visual aspect of it as well.

Eventually I realized that Cry Baby was a character that was based off of me, and that we had a lot of similarities.

I think that every decision I make in my life is based off of an emotion – and it definitely hurts me in some situations, and helps in some situations, like obviously writing and stuff is my favourite thing to do because I get to use all of my emotions and express them in that way.

I’m glad I got to introduce myself to America by doing a Britney [Spears] song, haha!

I like pop music because it can really affect a large amount of people and if I tell stories and spread messages that I think are really important for people to be aware of, I would want it to be on the biggest platform and I feel like pop is that. I use it as a way to tell stories.

There are obviously so many artists that are very inspiring, but I can’t say that they like – that I have someone in mind that is like a creative direction of where I want to go as an artist. I think I’m just doing my own thing.

I definitely have worked trying to create music that inspires girls to feel confident and strong, and feel like they can do anything.

A lot of people say if you can’t love yourself, then you can’t love others. It’s always different, but I definitely have loved a lot in my life.

Mark Ryden is my favorite visual artist.

My favorite thing in the world is telling stories, and most of what I do is telling stories through music.

My music definitely determines the direction we’re gonna move in. It’s like music, fashion, hair, makeup.

Producing all my own songs and refusing to go to the hot producer. That’s the biggest risk I’ve taken so far.

Rest, nature, books, music – such is my idea of happiness.

The world needs poetry now more than ever. It’s the only thing that can keep music from copying itself and sounding the same.

My purpose is to make exciting music, and I feel like I’ll be doing that for the rest of my life, so there’s no pressure.

The sexual embrace can only be compared with music and with prayer.

Music is everybody’s possession. It’s only publishers who think that people own it.