I think the most radical thing you can do is be yourself.
MO
I think it's exciting, working with new people. There's something refreshing about not knowing what's going to happen. It's like an open sky of possibilities.
I guess after the whole success with 'Lean On' - me being introduced into this more mainstream audience - I was a little scared of being my true self, and being vulnerable and being gritty.
Linking With You' is about being in love with somebody and obsessing about 'playing the game' right.
A lot of my songs are about being a teenager with a tornado in your head.
The worst present I got was when I was 10. I had specifically wished for a Barbie horse. My dad got me a cheap, poorly made version of it and I cried all evening.
I tend to learn from mistakes that I've made. Even though it sucks to make bad choices, sometimes it's good to fail.
I love having short hair - that means I can wear big earrings and even dresses sometimes without me feeling too feminine.
Nostalgia has always been a key player in my songwriting cause within that space I find a great deal of inspiration.
The biggest lie about getting older is that excitement and growth end with youth.
I had everything you could collect. I had these Spice Girls postcards. I also had the stickers and Barbie girls. I had all five of them. I was a real fangirl. They were actually preaching some cool stuff, the thing about girl power and sticking together with your best girlfriends.
You cannot just be the feature act, not that that's a bad thing, because that's a good thing, especially nowadays. But as an artist, you want to express yourself and you want to know what you want to express.
I think I would like to kiss Darth Vader.
I love to watch people not care too much about the choreography, or if they sing perfectly, or if the right label people are there to watch them. It's just about letting go and being crazy and engaging people in dance and madness - being a human instead of a doll.
Kim Gordon is my biggest style icon.
People find it hard to place me. I'm doing pop, but I'm this weird quirky Dane that used to be in a punk band. And she's singing about being messed up but at the same time she seems normal? I don't know.
I want to be sure I'm being myself. I don't want to follow something because someone's like 'do this, it's popular.'
Sometimes I like to write the lyrics while I'm on the road, because then you get even more melancholy.
The best present I have ever received was when I was about 13 and I got a really cool pair of black fake buffalo shoes. I was so happy about them. They were fake but I was ok with that.
What I love about working with Diplo is that it feels very free and fluid - we can work on a song apart from each other or in the studio, and it's always, 'Let's brainstorm, here are new ideas.' I like that kind of workflow, where it's constantly moving.
For me, it's all about making a song that communicates something to a big crowd, but you still feel like it's authentic to who you are. That's that kind of pop that I hope and wish to do.
I got into music around the age of eight years old, and I think the reason why was because I discovered the Spice Girls. I fell in love with them, and it was the first time I ever felt like the music was just directed to me.
When I'm in a session with someone I don't know, I like hanging out for a moment and talking and seeing if we can find some similarities in whatever conversation we're having. The best thing is when you just go for it - just do something that feels good and makes you feel free in the moment.
My music is about all these things that happen to you while growing up in search for some kind of truth.
I think it's very important of course that you're politically aware of what you do.
When I wrote my first album, I was reading Joseph Campbell - he's this philosopher who writes about mythology. That inspired the title, 'No Mythologies to Follow.'
The best pop songs are the ones that show that person's personality. It's harder to do those singles because the stars, moon and sun have to align and the audience have to be ready, but it's worth waiting for it.
It's so important that you are constantly moving. And when things are hard, it will just make you fight harder - that's what you need to develop as a person, I think.
It's always been a mantra to me, when making music or creating art, that you have to be vulnerable.
As a kid I was super into all kinds of pop. It wasn't until I became a teenager that I moved more into alternative music and punk rock.
I've been a fan of House of Holland for a couple of years now and I actually had a secret dream of working with the brand one day! So obviously I was super thrilled when I got this chance!
When I was seven-years-old I discovered the Spice Girls. I fell in love immediately, and I decided I wanted to be a musician myself. This became my goal and my biggest passion to strive for. And so I dressed up as a pop star at Halloween 1996.
I love mainstream music.
For me, as an artist, I think you have to experiment.
In my heart I believe that the best pop is the weird stuff.
I don't know if Kim Gordon does collaborations but I'd love to work with her on something one day.
Everything changed after 'Lean On.'
The thing I loved about my old punk band, it wasn't really about being vulnerable, it was about shouting and being fun and being aggressively political, which I thought was really cool and really fit that energy.
When I was around 12 or 13 my older brother had this friend who was a goth. He was dressed all in black... You know like super, super goth! I was just so drawn to that darkness and weirdness. I just wanted to rebel. And now that I think about it, rebel against what? I mean I have lovely parents and brother and things were always very great.
I have been a huge fan of ABRA ever since I discovered her in 2016. I love her gloomy fresh universe and her youthful unique vocals. Also I find her lyrics and visual output super exciting.
I was always into the West Coast rap, the production and the flows were always more appealing to me. I think my rapping days are over though.
I think it's to do what's important to you, and having a lot of people - hopefully - listening to your work. It also involves being a credible artist, and being able to reach out to those who will buy into it for some other reason. But on a more personal level, success comes from having many close and strong relationships.
When I talk to older people, they're like, 'you know what Karen? Life will always offer you new situations where you'll feel totally inexperienced.' But I think that's a good thing because without struggle you don't learn anything, and if you stop learning, you stop living, you know?
I have a crazy imagination, and it's a visual one that can be scary from time to time.
In Denmark we're so privileged. You get money to study, you get money if you're sick and you get money if your hand hurts. It's hard to be critical of people who are sick getting money, but in Denmark everyone gets money thrown at them and it makes them lazy.
Back in the day I had a tendency to fall in love with people who were very challenging to be in a relationship with. But truth was I just loved the fire and the drama.
I love a kind of androgynous look and then let the accessories / clothes shape it.
Blur' is about feeling lost, and on a personal level I would be lying if I didn't mention that this song, for me, was about feeling creatively and artistically lost in the city of all great opportunities, Los Angeles.
I had never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would actually be singing on a top 10 Billboard song.
I really like FKA twigs. She's wonderful. She's so cool. Like, insanely cool.
