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.

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.

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.

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.

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.