Quote collection
26 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"As a child, I was always making sound; it was a compulsion. I loved to scream and yell and sing; it freed me from all the thoughts in my head. I begged for opera lessons because opera singing is the most formidable, most emotional way to use your voice."
"I started performing opera when I was 10 years old. I didn't perform as Zola Jesus until I was probably 18."
"I don't know why people think I'm a Goth - that's a misconception."
"There can only be one Queen Bey."
"True expression is hard when performing opera. The problem is that opera relies on the dramatic context of the piece. It can be interpreted and represented, but there are guidelines; there is a vocabulary within the pieces that you must know objectively and reflect."
"I think I'm making music that's pretty universal."
"I don't find much influence in opera. It was such a different part of me."
"People don't really understand who I am. They always think that I'm very dark or depressed, but it couldn't be further from the truth!"
"I try to create songs that are really massive and intense, but at the same time remaining honest and raw."
"When you fall in love, you become weak."
"The word "theatrical" makes me cringe, because it suggests a performance is staged, put on, rehearsed. And while all this is true for an opera, I believe the act of singing and performing should always be honest, raw, guttural."
"A lot of times I have the song inside of me and I have to fight to get it out. I'm a very visual person, so I can see the song but I can't hear it. But I think that if your music becomes a war for it to happen, in the end there's a certain kind of aggression in the music. And I think that's a lot more interesting."
"The only reason I would write a break-up song is because my own problem of allowing myself to relate to people."
"It sounds kind of stupid, but I've never not wanted to be a musician. It's been inside me since I was little so I don't know what else I would do."
"Everything I do is a reflection of the duality within me. Musically, I really love things that are very synthetic and unnatural. And I also like the organic and human... the intrinsic, I guess."
"I feel like I am alone when I am in the presence of those I love. It is so freeing and comfortable, you become one with them."
"I know for sure that nothing matters."
"The greatest benefit of being a solo performer is that it is seriously frightening, but at the same time very empowering. It's just you and the audience. All the weight is on you to deliver the songs."
"And my music is always such a release of what I feel inside, an impulse."
"I like to remind myself that everything is meaningless."