If you ranked Odd Future, I was at the very bottom.
Syd
As a child, I wanted to be a singer, but that was only because I thought I could sing. I'd sing along to Brandy and Usher and *NSYNC.
I'm kind of shy when it comes to women, so I don't really approach them. I'll just admire them from afar, and if they happen to say something to me, then maybe I'll find the courage to say something.
For Odd Future, I only made beats for Mike G. With the Internet, I'm part of a production team making tracks for me to sing over.
My dad's a businessman, and I grew up looking up to him, how he dressed to go to work and, whenever I went to his office, how he spoke to people.
Kaytranada's a really cool dude.
I'm never a flashy type of person.
I lived in a pretty big house, and we had a guesthouse, so when I was 14, I built a studio in my bedroom, which was pretty big. It was two rooms connected, so I turned the second into a studio and ran the mic in my closet.
If you want to be a pioneer, you have to be intentional, at least a little bit.
I think everybody goes through times where they're vulnerable and then times where you're confident and cocky.
I don't really watch too many movies, but I try to watch inspirational pieces about other musicians. Musical documentaries truly inspire me.
I use Logic or Reason and a midi keyboard for beats. If it's gonna have all live instruments in it, I'll probably use Pro Tools and have the band lay stuff down.
I think my first client other than my brother was this kid named Tallent. I was charging him eight dollars an hour to record in my room. He kept coming back, then I went up to ten dollars an hour.
Older people generally appreciate live music.
I used to have long hair and get it done every two weeks, and it was never worth it to me. I would just walk out of the salon and put it in a ponytail anyway.
I have an uncle in Jamaica who's an OG producer/songwriter over there, Mikey Bennett.
I'm just a really shy person. I don't gravitate towards attention, so for someone like me to have as much attention as I have is bizarre.
I was 16 when I recorded 'Flashlight.' I produced it, made the beat, wrote it, recorded it.
I sing, but I'm not a singer. I'm just a producer who sings on her own songs because I can't find anybody else who sounds like me.
If everything happens for a reason, what's the reason?
I was really inspired, working with Odd Future.
At the end of the day, I represent myself first and foremost, and I'm not going to ever purposely try and misrepresent myself.
I know that Shia LaBeouf and Fiona Apple went to my alma mater, Hamilton High.
If you think I'm a young boy singing these songs, dope. Run with that.
I hate the word 'lesbian.'
It took me a very long time to be comfortable in my own skin.
Finding someone that trusted my vision helped me find certainty in who I was.
Fashion has always been influenced by hip-hop.
Feeling invisible definitely makes you want to become visible sometimes.
I don't even start singing anything until the mic is on and recording, because my first ideas are usually my best ones. So I'll just press record; I'll freestyle a whole three minutes.
I think too many people are offended by stuff that doesn't matter.
For me, I'm just trying to keep it fun, keep it interesting, not get stuck on the same sound, the same wave for too long.
I want people to love me for my music.
I learned everything I knew about recording and engineering from my experience with Odd Future, so I was pretty comfortable with not having much.
The gay community hated me for being part of Odd Future. They thought Odd Future was homophobic because they tend to use homophobic slang, and they were like: 'How can you work for and support homophobes?' But they aren't homophobic; they just don't really care whether you're offended or not.
I think that's what I learned a lot from Odd Future. I learned a lot of great things from them, but one of the mistakes that they made was that we didn't stay together, and we didn't communicate. We never had meetings. Everybody had issues with everybody else and wouldn't talk about it.
When I started making music, I just wanted to be the producer who sang the hooks. I wanted to be Pharrell, honestly, the one who made the beats and was in the music video with the girls.
Justin Timberlake has a great live show.
I never think I work hard enough, as much things I have on my plate.
My conscience is really active. So I feel bad about spending excess amount of money on things.
I'm sure that, on some level of the major-label and old-establishment industry, there are execs and agents who think homosexuality is a liability.
When I was 14 and I wanted to buy stuff, I didn't like asking for stuff from my parents, so I started a couple companies, and the last one ended up being my studio.
I used to feel like I wasn't a good songwriter when I couldn't finish a song by myself.
I knew that if I just came out as a singer, people would just be criticizing my voice.
I've always been conscious not to take advantage of my sexual orientation because I don't think it's fair, and it shouldn't matter.
If I have a session with an artist who I've never worked with before, they don't have to meet my parents, you know? Unless they want to.
Once we got signed, I moved out of my house because I was having teenage issues with my mom. It really wasn't my fault, looking back. You know, I'm gay; it's weird. It was one of the things. She has no problem with me being gay, but she had a problem with me dressing the way I do at first.
As far as open conversations with random people, no I don't really enjoy them.
My parents have always been supportive of whatever I've wanted to do.
I like that I'm an engineer - it sets me apart from a lot of other artists.
