I want to get away from the social vampires in Tucson. The people who have no lives of their own and meet me and know who I am and feel entitled to say negative things. I have good friends here, especially in the bands. But a lot of it is just like high school.

Neko Case

I would be a huge hypocrite if I didn't tell you that at one time in my life I thought the way that you made music was you got on a major label and you got famous.

Neko Case

I try not to be overly literal. When I'm writing songs, I write down a lot of words, and then I try to simplify it. I like to give people hints or words that make visual pictures for them.

Neko Case

I think my songwriting might be a little more on the darker side maybe.

Neko Case

I just want to make stories. They don't have to have a moral or a reason. There might be some mild cautionary notes, but they're not moral. They don't impart any Judeo-Christian ethic of any kind.

Neko Case

I really wanted to find a piano for the farm house. There were so many free pianos on Craigslist, I thought, 'Let's get as many free pianos as we can and stick them all in the barn.' I got eight in a short period of time, only six of which were tunable, but it's still quite funny.

Neko Case

If I could ever be on a Missy Elliott record, I could then die. Missy Elliott, Mary J. Blige - I love hearing them interviewed, I love the way they talk about their art. They're very self-assured, they're funny, they're inviting. I love it.

Neko Case

I think I've kind of been mistaken for somebody who's trying to be a spokesperson for animal rights, and the fact is I'm not qualified to be a spokesperson. I am passionate about it, but I'm not trying to make other people do what I do.

Neko Case

I grew up with lots of animals and I related more to them than I did to people. I feel a lot of empathy for them.

Neko Case

Everybody in my band is married, pretty much, and have lives at home, and I don't want them to be away from their families so long that they just start to feel psychotic. You have to go home and stand around in your bathrobe doing your dishes to feel like a normal person sometimes.

Neko Case

I don't feel nervous or fearful when I'm on stage.

Neko Case

I know that I can sing really loud. It's like having that really big Evinrude engine on the back of your fishing boat. But I've been trying to be more dynamic with my voice, and not just singing on 10 all of the time out of terror.

Neko Case

Everyone has to kind of fend for themselves.

Neko Case

I didn't want to be the girl who posed in 'Playboy' and then - by the way - made some music.

Neko Case

The Bible tries to make humans not animals the whole time. I think it's a bit of a mistake.

Neko Case

All I want to do is sing on other people's records.

Neko Case

I just really dig feeling subservient to nature. It brings me a peace and calm. Kind of like a Faustian thing, I think.

Neko Case

I should have been an abortion. The only reason I wasn't was that my father was a Christian.

Neko Case

Country music is completely punk-rock. It's the original punk-rock.

Neko Case

You can't just play the same thing, over and over again.

Neko Case

I tried to have more than one emotion on the record.

Neko Case