Even when I see a beautiful woman, I think, 'Aw, her life must be amazing.' Everyone does it. That's human nature to believe that beauty is everything.
Marina and the Diamonds
I love natural beauty, and I think it's your best look, but I think makeup as an artist is so transformative.
Blonde symbolises sexuality and power - it holds very different connotations. The archetypal star has always been blonde.
You have to be your biggest believer.
If you don't want to have your private life splashed everywhere, why go to the restaurants and the places you know you're going to be photographed?
What I hate is that not many people admit to having a big ego, but you have to - and there's nothing wrong with it.
Obviously when you're a teen you have no money, so you make, like, three outfits out of one dress. You're like, 'OK cut the arms here. Alright: New party, cut them to here.'
Lots of narcissistic people have helped lots of other people with their music. That's such a narcissistic thing to say! Ha ha!
I don't just want to sing about simplistic things all the time. It's good to have a mix of songs that have a real depth, and that provoke and challenge people, and then songs that are fun and people can enjoy.
Everyone gets dumped and everyone gets hurt and there's karma to love in regards to what you've done to other people.
Britney Spears is a big influence. Huge. I think people thought I was joking about that for a long time. But when I was a teenager, there was a genuine connection with this sweet girl who also had this very sexual side that people didn't really want to accept.
I consider myself a feminist because I believe women should have equal rights. Of course. It's just that the term 'feminism' conjures up other things for people.
My dad's quite a conservative person, and he brought me up to be very questioning of the commercial world. He looked down on pop culture. I definitely got the impression that pop was evil and that Britney Spears was evil.
I've always been interested in how fast-moving our identity is and that I've never been able to pin down who I truly am. That inspires me to write, because I feel like that cements me a bit, in that I find my identity in being an artist.
I turned off my Google alerts in 2009 as I learnt that following yourself on the Internet very quickly becomes unhealthy.
Everybody is different. Some people like to share more. I just wouldn't want to spoil someone's opinion of me by them knowing me as a person instead of an artist.
I am very curvy, so the vintage stores suit me better than most designers. I just can't seem to give up crisps, or make my boobs shrink for that matter. Alas, I will never fit a size zero.
Touring can be tough; the crew and I travel everywhere by a big pink bus, and live in petrol stations.
There's no one particular road that will lead you to success. I think everybody will find it differently.
Love is really my nemesis. I never really allowed myself to indulge in such basic things because I was so motivated and thought that if I did I wouldn't succeed.
I love pop music because you can really see what's currently happening in society.
This obsession with celebrity culture is really unhealthy. I don't want to live my life like that, and I don't want to be a typical pop star.
I'm not really part of that 'L.A. thing' or that celebrity culture. I'm more like someone who observes it, and I can't ever imagine being like that.
I really like the look of the 1950s, lots of suburban Americana influences. I'm 5'4', so I like kitten heels occasionally because I can move around a bit easier, but pointy-toed pumps are very elongating.
I criticized the whole American songwriting industry and the pop side of it and I was bitter about it. And I stepped back and thought 'Why are you bitter? You can't just stand there like every other indie musician and criticize this so-called 'generic' music when you're not doing anything to challenge that.'
You know what, if you compromise and do stuff that's not becoming to you as an artist, that's your fault.
I think celebrity culture and sexuality in pop music is really important, but I want there to be an alternative for people.
I'm not going to lie; I'm not a huge remix person.
I do have a memo all the time because I need to be guided by something in my life. I'm not religious and I don't have idols, so something has to drive me.
Music is my 90% of my life and my biggest passion. I really don't have an interest in anything else.
When you are in the studio, you don't have anybody to feed off of; meanwhile, when you are playing live, you interact with people and you feel the energy in the room. When the crowd is going crazy, that definitely impacts your vocal performance. I prefer to sing live.
When you are with the wrong person, who doesn't really love you, all you want is to be adored. It makes you more inward and needy. Gross.
If you're making too many excuses for someone, agonising over them in a way which takes up all your waking thoughts and feel so nervous around them you could be sick, then they are probably the wrong person.
I quite like dark humor.
I feel like everyone has the right to privacy, even if you're the most famous person in the world.
I often take things I find in vintage crawls and hand them to a very good seamstress, who then replicates them and makes a more robust version in different colors, with a pocket for my mic pack.
There's nothing I'd never wear, really. I've worn pink spotty pajamas from a Goodwill store onstage before. This only happens when I'm having a small breakdown!
I am absolutely not a roll-on-stage kind of girl! I would be totally freaked out if I didn't warm up, and I don't know how other singers do it.
I didn't even listen to any music until I was 19, really. I just wanted to be famous. But I didn't say it to anyone because I was really embarrassed at the thought.
I'm just waiting for the moment where it's accepted that women are just as sexual as men without women having to be overtly sexy just to prove how 'liberated' they are.
I'm a very, very disciplined person.
I want to provoke people with thoughts, not by taking my clothes off. It's time to move on from Stripperville.
I'm masquerading as an innocent pop star.
I lived in Greece for about four years of my life, and living there had a huge impact on my life growing up. My father was very much adamant that we would learn about our culture. It's a very rich culture to be a part of since it has such a great history behind it. I definitely carry that in my job, and I am very passionate.
I could draw up a list of about 30 artists who I apparently sound like. From Lady Gaga, to Katy Perry to Lana Del Rey. I don't know if it's because I'm versatile or because production affects how people judge music. I can't wait for a time I can just be classed as myself.
Nobody will admit to playing power games in relationships, but they do.
I've read every Madonna biography. I've also looked up every pop star to see how they first made it. The biggest thing I learnt was that you have to be pro-active. You can't be scared.
I think some people just have an innate musical ability, and I'm lucky enough to be one of those people.
I hate the whole 'record your album, do your promo campaign, have a year off to write another album' pattern. As an artist, you should keep creating as much as you possibly can.
I actually quite like promo, which is quite odd for an artist, but recording's not the easiest thing.
