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.
MITSKII could never enter that dream. That all-American white culture is something that is inherited instead of attained.
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 -
All the time. I feel like I’m not taken seriously.
MITSKI -
I hope to be a writer and musician my whole life, fingers crossed.
MITSKI -
When you are a minority, it’s your job to bend, and when you love someone, you really want to make it work.
MITSKI -
I actually love the summer. When I went to Miami on tour, I was actually like, ‘I love this place.’
MITSKI -
I think your ego gets in the way of making something good because it kind of blinds you from the actual art.
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 don’t think I’m alone in this: I’m obsessed with trying to not only be happy but maintain happiness, but my definition of happiness is skewed more towards ecstasy rather than contentment.
MITSKI -
I’m Japanese, and I’m also white American, and neither camp wants me in their camp.
MITSKI -
I think music is supposed to be shared.
MITSKI -
All I want to do at karaoke is sing Mariah Carey.
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 -
Being an outsider makes you a really good writer.
MITSKI -
I’ve been asked whether I have a hobby, and have felt strangely offended that anyone would assume I have the time.
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I’d always been fascinated by death, which sounds so morbid. Especially being a woman trying to make music, I think there’s a sense that you’re never young enough, or your career is going to end soon.
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 -
I don’t care about making anything new. I make music to express an emotion, and if the emotion is nostalgic, so be it.
MITSKI -
I guess you can say I ‘do the Twist.’ I like playful dance moves that aren’t too serious.
MITSKI -
I could never enter that dream. That all-American white culture is something that is inherited instead of attained.
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 -
Miyazaki movies were what I was raised on. I’ve watched them since I was very young, and I’ve been greatly shaped by them.
MITSKI -
Being an outsider at all times is both unhealthy and useful, because you become much more objective about things.
MITSKI -
I would love for Rivers Cuomo to listen to my music and see what he thinks.
MITSKI -
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.
MITSKI -
I’ve stopped wanting a home, I think, because I’ve been on tour all my life, basically.
MITSKI -
I think the pressure gets to me when I play shows and there’s more people in the audience than I’m used to.
MITSKI