Musician

I guess you can say I 'do the Twist.' I like playful dance moves that aren't too serious.

I don't think I'm alone in this: I'm obsessed with trying to not only be happy but maintain happiness, but my definition of happiness is skewed more towards ecstasy rather than contentment.

I really just care about making music and how I can make it next.

I'm Japanese, and I'm also white American, and neither camp wants me in their camp.

I couldn't wait to get out of school, but once I did, I didn't actually know what I wanted to do with myself. I don't really know how it happened, but I just started writing music and realized that's what I wanted to do.

I didn't fit in anywhere when I grew up, but I was always American, so to survive, I created this 'ideal America.' Finally I came to the U.S. and realised, 'Oh, I don't belong here, either.'

You can be heartbroken about a relationship but also, from it, realize you are you, and you're okay with who you are or where you came from.

When someone is a musician - trying to make a living off being a public figure - it's really easy for people to see me as a face on a screen that doesn't have a personal life.

I've been asked whether I have a hobby, and have felt strangely offended that anyone would assume I have the time.

I think your ego gets in the way of making something good because it kind of blinds you from the actual art.

All I want to do at karaoke is sing Mariah Carey.

It's nice to know there's a big world with many perspectives. I tend to get so stuck in my own small world easily, and going out into the world reminds me that I'm not the center of the world - in a good way.

When I started making music, I was like, 'This is something I can believe I was meant to do.'

Sometimes when I perform, and it's obvious the audience is just there to party, or if I feel a wall between me and the audience, I get existential about it.

The whole 'grunge-girl' comparisons certainly are the easiest to pick out, and I appreciate that music journalists are rushed.

I'm so smart. I am good at doing math really quickly in my head.

Music was the one thing that was just mine, and no one could take it from me. I created it, dictated it, and it made me not able to let go of it.

I really like The Cars. They're just so over the top and super pop, but I don't feel guilty. I'm proud of all the music I listen to.

I understand that, because there are so many musicians, you have to make artists into brands, but I sometimes feel like I have to be some kind of non-human icon in order for people to listen to my music.

I was one of those girls people called 'intense.'