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.
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 feel like I’ve always wanted to live in one place and stay in one place, but I always end up choosing things that make me travel.
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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.
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Whenever I’ve tried to ingratiate myself to an existing community, I tend to give too much, to become whatever it is they want me to be. It’s something I do automatically – I’ve learnt to immediately adapt.
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People started calling me that, and I started being treated in a specific way.
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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.
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Whenever someone says they like something about my music.
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As a woman of color, I always have to be at 150 percent and better than everybody in the room to be considered competent.
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I tend to not want to do that anymore. It’s not even that I don’t like it anymore: it’s that I keep trying to find ways for people to dislike me.
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I think it’s very dangerous as an artist to be comfortable.
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You can be heartbroken about a relationship but also, from it, realize you are you, and you’re okay with who you are or where you came from.
MITSKI -
I think my whole identity is formed around not knowing where I’m from. It might even be that I find comfort in that confusion.
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 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.
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Everything is so chaotic and messy in the world, and I have always felt kind of dirty.
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My father was obsessed with folk music from around the world, and I think the countless artists who performed them are my biggest influences.
MITSKI