We all like to believe we are completely self-sufficient, but at the end of it all, we're all searching for a human connection, something to make it all feel a bit more worthwhile.
Lauren Mayberry
Objectification, whatever its form, is not something anyone should have to 'just deal with.'
Growing up in Scotland and living in Glasgow, you see the heritage that religion has had and how something that, in theory, is about kindness and community and caring for each other is used to persecute people.
I did my dissertation on the idea of femininity and women's writing, so I spent eight months reading about how women are portrayed in the media in terms of images and tone of voice and what words are used.
Moving from a first to a second album is an incredibly transitional time for any band because you never get to make one in a vacuum like you did with your debut.
I identify as a feminist but subscribe to the pretty basic definition of a feminist as 'someone who seeks equality between the sexes.'
Is the casual objectification of women so commonplace that we should all just suck it up, roll over, and accept defeat? I hope not.
I've always worked in cinemas or cafes to make money because it turns out freelance journalism is quite hard to get into.
People say Taylor Swift's not feminist enough or Beyonce's not feminist enough, but there are 12-year-old girls going to their shows and taking an awesome message.
When I'm writing, it's because I'm trying to figure something out for myself. If I don't believe in what I've written, then how can I expect anyone else to believe in that, either?
Pretty much everybody we know in Glasgow who's in a band has another job. All of us have worked in bars, cafes, or cinemas. It means you can afford to do the thing you love.
I never wanted to write really cheesy pop lyrics - like, 'baby, baby, the sun is shining' - that's not something that interests me personally. I'm always wanting to write something that has some kind of meaning.
There's a difference between criticism and hatred.
I discovered the idea of feminism when I watched the film '10 Things I Hate About You.' It's a classic.
I don't want to sound negative here, but I don't know any lady that was surprised by #MeToo.
One guy came to a show and was like, 'You're going to be huge. I can see it in my mind's eye. We could make you the next Pixie Lott.' I did an internal scream and ran away.
Makeup and clothing and all that should be a fun way to be creative and express yourself. Just like in nature, where birds have all the colors. But instead, it's all focused on the aesthetics of being attractive to men. Even if you really don't think it is that, that's what we're doing.
It's nice to squash people's expectations.
I've come to terms with the fact that standing and screaming in someone's face about how wrong they are is never gonna make anyone change.
A relationship can be deeply damaging without anyone leaving marks on you. So many people - especially young women - end up trying to maintain those emotionally abusive relationships because we don't think it's that bad and that we are really some of the lucky ones because we haven't experienced 'real' abuse.
After the first album, I spent a lot of time being like, 'I'm not really a singer.' That kind of mentality doesn't help.
There will never be a job that I do in this industry where I don't have to talk about being a woman. I will always be a female artist. People will put that in front whether you like it or not.
Seeing people communicate about the band online has been amazing, but I think a lot of people spend a lot of time talking about what they hate rather than what they love. I don't want to get trapped in that.
Nobody is strong 100 percent of the time or falling apart 100 percent of the time; sometimes you're doing both at once.
Ultimately, what we're striving for is people being allowed to do what they want and not feeling they should or shouldn't do certain things.
We were overwhelmed by how much the first album connected with people, but I wouldn't put us in the 'pop star' realm.
No one has a better idea of what Chvrches is than we do.
I speak a little bit of French and German, but apparently, I'm really bad at Dutch. The pronunciations are quite hard. I tried to say 'hello' in Dutch, and it did not work. People were just like, 'What?'
It only takes two seconds of your life to say, 'I don't agree with white supremacy. I don't agree with homophobia.'
I don't have a lot of time for things that are deliberately, achingly cool.
I think looking at the front row of a Chvrches show is really diverse. It could be 50-year-old dudes who love Depeche Mode or teenagers or teenage girls and their dad.
Some musicians don't have strong opinions, or they deliberately don't have strong opinions because they want to try and sell as many records as possible.
Anne Carson and Angela Carter are folks I hold close to my heart because they have such unique ways of telling stories.
Life's too short to be shoehorned into a box that isn't for you.
The film world feels like a smaller world than music.
I think about politics, so it would be inauthentic not to talk about it.
I am in a band that was born on the Internet.
The depressing reality is that campaigns like the Everyday Sexism Project would not need to exist were casual sexism not so startlingly commonplace.
I think, in reading a few sentences of text, you can just tell the tone, and that's something I love in prose writers but in lyricists as well.
I have a personal Twitter for band purposes, but I don't use social media a lot.
I like the idea of a record being more than one thing emotionally - human beings go through so many emotions in one day - and I like those things sitting next to each other.
There were times in my early 20s where I dealt with some anxiety and depression issues. At that time, it just feels like you're under the water, and you can't get out.
I've never been able to write narrative as a character, really. Jenny Lewis, I love her stuff, I love that she can weave these American Gothic fairytales. I feel like I sound inauthentic when I do that, so I tend to write from a personal standpoint.
I had somebody say to me once, 'You can't make the kind of music you're making and call yourself a feminist.' The door was slammed on them swiftly after that.
Nothing gets my hackles up like being told I can't do something.
Crushes start out as that teenage phenomenon, life-affirming and cute, but as you wander into adulthood, they seem to end up more painful, harrowing, and uncertain, especially if you have just come out of the relationship you thought would finally, maybe, maybe be the one that stuck.
To me, it is not necessarily you responding that trolls want: they want to scare, they want to intimidate, and they want to silence people - so ignoring it doesn't make a difference.
Obviously, when you're working at things, you all hope that people will relate to it.
Japan has always been a really special place for Chvrches.
We should all be able to have faith that our governments are working in our best interests - and if they aren't, then they should be challenged and held to account.
