Art is what makes life worth living.

You’re italic, I’m in bold.

Aside from singing, I’m also a dancer. I’ve been dancing since I was 8.

Some artists just ruin their voices because they don’t know any better.

Being an artist doesn’t just mean you have a song. That doesn’t make you an artist. The word ‘artist’ means so many different things, and I feel like to be a real one, you really have to do it all. The people that I think of as artists – Tyler the Creator, Childish Gambino, Kanye West – are doing the most.

Everything I do is a reflection of who I am.

Calling women slut is out of date. Shaming people for wearing what they want is out of date.

Sexism is everywhere, bro. I don’t know if it’s ever not somewhere.

I love people talking about me; I love anybody just looking at me.

I love movement. I love moshing.

It’s okay to not be okay.

It’s rare for anyone to value the opinions of a teenage girl.

I have so many designs and video ideas and lyrics in my head, so I always try to be productive.

I really wanted to be a model when I was little. I loved photography, and I loved being on camera. But I was short and chubby, so I couldn’t. Anyway, being an artist is way more interesting than just being a model because it’s about you and what you want to be. You’re not being treated like a clothes hanger.

I felt like, for so many years – and I still even feel it – as a girl, you can’t really expect to go on stage and dress like a boy and jump around and scream with the audience and mosh and stuff, and every time that happens, I feel really proud.

Your opinion of me is none of my business.

I like to be in control of how I look and how I feel and how I act.

I grew up on the Beatles; I love Linkin Park and Green Day. I heard hip-hop for the first time at 11 and realized what I was missing.

I’m not going to say I’m cool, because I don’t really feel that. I just don’t care at all, and I guess that’s what people think is cool.

We uploaded ‘Ocean Eyes’ to SoundCloud, and it started getting a lot of plays pretty much immediately.

I’m not a role model; I’m just a person.

I play piano and ukulele, and I taught myself those things just because I wanted to play them.

I’m trying to show everybody that I’m a girl, and I’m five foot four, and you can do anything you want, no matter your gender. It’s your world, too!

When I was 4, I wrote a song about falling into a black hole.

I find a lot of inspiration through visuals. When I was 12, I saw Aurora’s ‘Runaway’ music video. Something inside me clicked, like, ‘That is what I want to do, no matter whether it goes anywhere or not.’

Life is short, and it’s all about the experiences you have.

Writing a song is so personal. You have to have trust in someone you’re working with; otherwise, you’re not gonna come out with something that’s really you.

I used to write random little stupid things when I was five, but then the first song I really wrote was one called ‘Fingers Crossed,’ which is on SoundCloud.

I never thought a career as a musician was possible.

I had a period in my life where I decided that I would never be bored again and that, if I had any free time at all, I would make plans, and I would always be doing things. It actually was great for a year or so, but then I lost all of my friends.

You should be able to be yourself and express yourself.

When I write, I try to become different characters.

I’m not a category of a person. I’m the same person, for my whole life. I like this thing this time, and I like this thing that time.

Clothing & fashion are kind of my security blanket, almost.

Music is what I love to do, and it’s what I want to do for the rest of my life.

I listen to music all day every day. I can’t not listen to music. It’s kind of scary how much I listen to music, but it’s what I love, and it’s all I care about, so I’m good with it.

Nothing really scares me, to be honest.

If it’s good music, it’s good music.

All of the Vines that were acted & setup & had nice cameras, those weren’t the good Vines. The good Vines were, like, a random little kid in the middle of a forest, like, yelling.

I feel like I’m in a constant state of growth.

If I’m in a bad mood, or if I’m uncomfortable, it’s probably what I’m wearing that’s making me feel that way.

Sometimes it’s flattering when people copy you, but sometimes it gets to a breaking point.

I’ve always liked being busy. If I have nothing to do for a week, it just makes me mad.

Lyrics are so important, but they’re really underrated.

I don’t ever want to feel like I’m better than anyone.

There are always going to be bad things. But you can write it down and make a song out of it.

I love to watch videos, and I’ve always liked to film and take pictures. I have an eye for really weird things that nobody thinks about. I used to make little movies about myself and then edit them on iMovie.

In real life, I’m a really smiley person. I smile when I talk and I laugh.

When I do have free time, I spend it with friends, or I spend it at home writing or making something.

I think it’s important to have a good support system.

Time is kind of an amazing thing because you can do so much with it. I think people underestimate time… I don’t want to just sit on my phone for hours.

I go through a lot of depression, and I know other people do, too, but I have an outlet that so many people don’t. If you have that inside of you and can’t get it out, what do you do?

Pirate was going to be my middle name, but then my uncle had a problem with it because pirates are bad.

I’m gonna make what I want to make, and other people are gonna like what they’re gonna like. It doesn’t really matter.

When I make music, I try to be as honest as possible.

I hate smiling. It makes me feel weak and powerless and small. I’ve always been like that; I don’t smile in any pictures.

My brother had written ‘Ocean Eyes,’ and we recorded it, basing all of the production around contemporary and lyrical dance. I think of most songs that way – if you can’t dance to a song, it’s not a song.

If I make music and people hate it, you know, whatever. I’ll die someday, and one day, they will too.

Words are more powerful than some noises. Noises won’t last long. Lyrics are so important, and people don’t realise that.

I’ve always been the type of person to wear my heart on my sleeve.

What makes a song last is real content from a mind that is thinking a little bit harder about certain things. A lot of artists don’t really think that hard.

In the public eye, girls and women with strong perspectives are hated. If you’re a girl with an opinion, people just hate you. There are still people who are afraid of successful women, and that’s so lame.

I don’t see myself as a pop artist. Like, when you hear ‘pop,’ you’re like, ‘Oh, bubblegum, jumpy little girly stuff,’ and I feel like, ‘Uh-uh. That’s not me.’

I’ve always done whatever I want and always been exactly who I am.