Kiesza

“I wear crop tops and stuff, but I genuinely like that style, so it's just has to be genuine. Once you start getting to that world where you're using sexuality to try to propel something, you're losing the moment. You've lost; people are not focusing on that anymore.”

“I don't think shoving my butt into people's faces will tell them anything about who I am. How is that connecting to your audience? What is that doing for your music?”

“I believe that anyone can be what they want to be; it just comes down to hard work.”

“You're taught that you can keep going in the military. Your point of collapse is not what you thought it was. Your body is built to survive, and when you think you're going to collapse, you still have so much more left in you.”

“It's hard to dance to really fast music. All you can do is pump your fist to it, and after a while, you're going to have a seizure.”

“It wasn't until I wrote 'Hideaway' that I found the song I related to as an artist.”

“I loved the bootcamp and the training. It was the actual Navy and the structure after it that I realized wasn't for me because they're building soldiers. It's a system, and you can't really stick out; you can't be the oddball out in the military.”

“From the age of three to 15, I wanted to be a ballerina and trained really, really hard. Then I had that classic movie story moment, where I had an injury and had to give up my dream.”

“I was a very unpredictable child. I'd pack a bag and go off and do a hike in the mountains for 10 days.”

“You cannot teach a person how to write songs. It's about being your own person and following your instincts.”

“I'm very naturally happy, quirky and positive.”

“People have mentioned, 'Maybe you should try to be more sexy. Look at how this butt stuff propelled this person to the top of the chart; it's amazing!' And I'm like, 'What if I really want to sing something to people?' I speak my mind. I want to be that person people feel they can listen to.”

“You cannot go wrong by learning classical music because it trains the ear.”

“I was a weird teenager. My mother was actually worried because I didn't have any interest in dating in my teenage years. I had all this desire to pursue my passions like ballet, then sailing, then music, so I didn't have any emptiness to fill.”

“A lot of people preach and talk, but I think the only way to preach is to actually do things.”