Maybe it's easier to have that desire guest-spot-packed album, for example, you're a rapper and you need someone to sing the hook. I guess for us, it just kind of feels like we want to explore ourselves more. That sounds kind of cheesy, but I don't know. I have a lot of artists whose music I have this perfect relationship with, and I don't really feel like I need to meet them or get to know them or write with them because of it.
Yukimi NaganoI think most people get hit by the music first and you can be singing along and realize a song has this melancholy feel. As Swedes, I think we see a beauty in melancholy. You're heartbroken, you're looking out the window and you feel really at ease in the pain. I have so many memories as a teenager with music, sad music, but I was just so into it.
Yukimi NaganoIt's hard to start and think about having balance. Music is a tough industry, and you have to work your way to that luxury.
Yukimi NaganoA good collaboration I think it's really, truly a vibe thing. The people who are most excited about collaborations are people in the business, people who are thinking, "This is going to be great press," or, "This is going to expose you to all these people you haven't reached before." I prefer not to think like that. I'm more, if you meet the person, you like the person, you've talked to them, you feel connected, you feel like there's a creative exchange, then it kind of happens by itself. I'm open to it, but it has to feel right. If it feels forced, then I'm fearful of doing it.
Yukimi NaganoFor us, as artists, our goal isn't to forever try to play at the biggest venue ever. Our goal is to make music and keep pushing ourselves creatively, whether it gets attention or not. If we get to do that without being broke? That's our goal. And that may not mean that's going to result in us playing the biggest venue in the world.
Yukimi NaganoI never listen to any of my music after it comes out, unless I hear it in a cafe or whatever. I'll think, "I forgot how it was so slow or how minimal it felt compared to how it's become live," because you start having a relationship to the songs live. After an album is finished, I really let go.
Yukimi NaganoThere were choices that we've made as a Little Dragon, that we had to make at the time because we needed the money. I think everything has its context. It is way easier to say no to things now then it was five years ago, for sure. Back then we were grabbing at every opportunity we could just to sustain a name and let people know, "Hello, hello! We're here! Look at us!" It's really sort of taken its time and grown, and it's been a very step-by-step process.
Yukimi Nagano