My father was obsessed with folk music from around the world, and I think the countless artists who performed them are my biggest influences.
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
-
-
There’s this myth that women are supposed to compete with each other or something, or we’re supposed to hate each other, and that’s totally not productive.
MITSKI -
I remember I took a music course in junior year of high school, and some girl brought in ‘Teardrops On My Guitar,’ and she was like, ‘Isn’t this song great?’ And everyone was like, ‘Who’s Taylor Swift?’ And now, every time I listen to Taylor Swift, I remember that moment.
MITSKI -
You always want what you can’t have, and that all-American thing, from the day I was born,
MITSKI -
I’ve been very careful to always make clear that I am a real person. That’s why I’m on social media a lot.
MITSKI -
I was one of those girls people called ‘intense.’
MITSKI -
I guess you can say I ‘do the Twist.’ I like playful dance moves that aren’t too serious.
MITSKI -
Growing up, I never really felt like anything was my own. I moved a lot, and I never belonged anywhere.
MITSKI -
I actually love the summer. When I went to Miami on tour, I was actually like, ‘I love this place.’
MITSKI -
I don’t want to be elitist.
MITSKI -
What I have a problem with is when it becomes another form of tokenization, of shrinking me into a symbol instead of a multilayered, female Asian artist.
MITSKI -
You can never learn enough about music.
MITSKI -
I really like The Cars. They’re just so over the top and super pop, but I don’t feel guilty. I’m proud of all the music I listen to.
MITSKI -
In my first few years of being in New York, I had a major identity crisis because I’d never stayed in one place for so long.
MITSKI -
I try to be regimented and try to stay healthy and work out and eat properly and go to sleep. And not get too caught up in the industry in my regular life, so I can save all my expression and energy for my art.
MITSKI -
I discovered I was an Asian American when I arrived in the U.S. I didn’t identify as that before I came here.
MITSKI