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.

The only reason I would write a break-up song is because my own problem of allowing myself to relate to people.

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.

No matter what you do, if there's something you're afraid of, you need to break through it.

You are born and then you die, but in between you can do anything you want. It's society that creates rules for us, but you can break out of that.

The most important thing for us to do as beings is to be aware of our position in the world on a micro and macro level.

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.