Grimes Quotes

I feel like gender lines are changing. A couple of years ago, it wasn't nearly as OK for guys to like girly-sounding music. But all of a sudden a lot of my guys friends who would like have been really disdainful of female singers are way more accepting.

I don't know if I would ever have costume changes - usually I just end up taking off my shoes, I get so sweaty, and... I just need to be comfortable.

It's really hard to be on stage and packing your gear when people who just saw you play are in the room, because they all just want to talk to you.

I can tell really early on in a painting if I'm going to toss it or not.

I write music better in the winter, I prefer making music when it's dark.

I think one of the reasons I'm successful as a musician is that the first like 30 shows I played, I played with no monitors standing in front of guitar amps in a shitty, smoky warehouse where people were screaming and wasted, knocking over my gear. So shows after that seem pretty easy!

I usually like to get people in because I don't have a band or anything. In cities where I have friends, I try to get them to come out and dance for me.

I'm a very unhealthy person, and Montreal is very cold, and I'm usually sick when I'm there.

The groove can go for like three days - once I'm in it it will just keep going until I'm totally exhausted. But that's how I like to work, I like to be away from everyone and just get in the zone, and stay there for as long as I can keep it there.

Art gives me an outlet where I can be aggressive in a world where I usually can't be.

You rarely find someone who sings really well and who produces really well; it's a problem, and I just think it's a missing link in the music scene.

I like creating beauty out of scary things.

The last thing I think about when I'm making music is its reception.

In America there's lot of cool cities, but in Canada there's, like, well, Vancouver, Toronto and Halifax may be cool, but they're so expensive. Montreal is the only city that's affordable but also has buses and culture.

I'm just very obsessed with Japanese stuff in general.

Success, for me, is a song that can deliver shivers.

Miami is just really fun whenever I go there. It's like this post-apocalyptic Barbie world: everything is pink, and there're palm trees everywhere. But then there are also all these people in crazy sunglasses, warehouses with sick parties where all the girls are covered in spikes and black leather. It's a very weird place.

Mariah Carey is my favorite singer because her voice sounds utterly groundless. It's not even a human voice; it almost sounds mechanical.

Lately I've been really into screaming a lot through delay [effects], having seven people on stage topless going crazy, stuff like that. Really in your face, but maybe more organic than choreographed dance moves.

Lets make it known that we don't want to give away our beautiful homeland to corporate interests. It is our right as Canadians to be part of these decisions. The only thing standing between this world and environmental catastrophe is us

Just because something might not have a deep philosophical meaning doesn't mean it's not important or relevant.

I want to say my life inspires my lyrics, but I also try to abstract them as much as possible because I don't want to refer to my life explicitly. I'm definitely really embarrassed by my lyrics.

I think Canadians make a lot of music because we're stuck inside all the time.

If I think about what other people are thinking when I'm making music, I just can't do it. It's too withheld - I need to go totally over the top, and then kind of clean it up a bit and make it more reasonable after the fact.

I have a lot of Japanese friends: I grew up in Vancouver, and there's this huge Japanese population over there.

Whenever I'm making music I'm always waiting for the shivers to happen - that's an important thing for me.

I like going crazy. And not just for art - I like extremes in general.

I don't even wear shoes with heels because I hate making a noise when I walk and people looking at me.

It takes me probably about four hours to get into the groove [with making music]. And it's really important for me to not break the groove.

I like performing, but I usually get really sick when I'm on tour, and it's just hard.

I love pop music, but I also love noise music, IDM - anything really, I get something out of most kinds of music. I just need to enjoy the process.

I definitely see the voice as an instrument: It makes great drums, great synth pads, great everything.

I feel like vocals are to music what portraits are to painting. They're the humanity. Landscapes are good and fine, but at the end of the day everyone loves the Mona Lisa.

My great fear is that I'm the ultimate shallow person. I think about this kind of thing a lot, and about this phenomenon in our culture where people identify themselves with their interests. I've been trying not to think about it too much. It used to really upset me when people called me "witch house."

I think my music's kind of cold, but I don't know if it's related to the weather. It might be because it's always grey [in Montreal], it's very depressing.

I can't censor myself; it's really important for me to say how I feel.

If I went on 'American Idol,' I would definitely be kicked out immediately.

I'm sad that it's uncool or offensive to talk about environmental or human rights issues.

Even though I really admire what Beyonce does, and she's probably got one of the best live shows in the world - honestly! - that's so not my style.

I don't have any money to hire actors. I just need to get people who are going to do a good job being themselves.

I cry really easily. If I see a butterfly, I'll practically burst into tears. So it's really hard for me to yell at people, because I'll feel so guilty about it. But if I don't, then they don't take me seriously and it's this endless cycle.

I don't want to have to compromise my morals in order to make a living.

Removing all stimulation around you is a really positive thing in terms of stimulating your creativity.

I get offers to do huge-budget music videos with big production companies all the time, but I have no interest.

I definitely see the voice as an instrument: It makes great drums, great synth pads, great everything. Vocals can be so many things, like, "Hey, I'm Michael Jackson, and this is my iconic voice," or a choir of people sounding like Mozart's Requiem. Mariah Carey is my favorite singer because her voice sounds utterly groundless. It's not even a human voice; it almost sounds mechanical.

Ugly girls generally don't become successful in music. And it sucks because it's a standard that just exists.

My manager lives on my block; four of the apartments in my apartment complex of seven are people I know. It's a really close-knit community, and almost everyone on these few blocks are artists or graphic designers, because we live right on the cusp of a warehouse district.

When I'm making something I need it to be catchy - I need it to hit the sweet spot.