The civilised cultures are the most cruel. It's the same with education - often it breeds sadistic forms of cruelty.
Nellie McKayWhat people generally tell you is, "We'll all agree," and then once you sign, they expect to get their own way. I think it was a bit of a surprise that I was still very headstrong even after signing. I wasn't so happy to get a deal that I would agree to anything. In fact, I disagreed on most things and got my way on most things, which I think was to all of our benefit. But they wanted the record to come out, and I wanted the record to come out, so we had to work together.
Nellie McKayI'm glad I got a record contract, because all of a sudden everything you were doing before that made you a stupid person now makes you a smart person.
Nellie McKayMy mom. She really encouraged me. That's the trouble with education: Unless you have a really supportive parent, you get left behind.
Nellie McKayI'd been knocking on record companies' doors for so long, and I had gone on a lot of auditions. It's weird when you go to those auditions through the Village Voice or something. You never know what to expect. You just press Floor 3 on the elevator and pray that it's not... You know, anyone can place an ad, so it's really freaky.
Nellie McKay