Laufey

“Jazz music is all about performance, right? At least, to me, it's about the freedom of performance, the different inflections you do in the moment and the improvisations.”

“You have to learn to unlearn, I am a true believer in that.”

“I know my position now as a role model for many, and I want to do them justice.”

“My whole life has been in classical music, I've been trained to become the best musician possible, play the piece the best, play the notes on the page the best.”

“I write the best when I'm sitting on my couch.”

“I live and I write, and I write and I live. It's kind of just how I am.”

“If anything, I thought I would go the conservatory route, practice cello and try to get into the best orchestra I could, like my mother did.”

“I love going to my concerts and seeing all the fans come in, wearing outfits that are similar to me. It makes me so happy.”

“I have to live to write. But I try to discipline myself into writing on the spot as well. I think it's a misconception that you just have to wait for inspiration to strike you. I think musicians and writers can train themselves to see inspiration on the spot. And that's one of the greatest tools you can develop as a songwriter.”

“That's why I always strive to make timeless, almost a bit cinematic music, because I guess I was looking for an escape and I found that through music.”

“You can speak something into existence or sing something into existence.”

“My mom could tell that I had a natural inclination for music.”

“At the end of the day, what are genres? I've spent my whole life trying to fit into some sort of box. Am I a classical musician, a jazz musician? Am I Icelandic? Am I Chinese? Am I American? I've never been able to fit into a box. So I'm trying to distance myself from that. I think that's quite old-fashioned.”

“Jazz songs have always been quite literal because many of them are taken from musical theater and you only have a couple of moments to describe the scenery. I really borrow from that practice in my own songwriting. I want them to be consumed almost as little movies.”

“I think there will be a song for everyone on every album that I do.”

“Obviously, I want to be taken seriously as a musician.”

“What TikTok and social media did for me was give me an even chance to pitch myself to the world. And for that, I can't take it for granted.”

“I'll take any opportunity to kind of put my own spin on a jazz standard.”

“I'm constantly thinking about classical and jazz, how to properly preserve them and pay homage.”

“It's so special to hear a room full of thousands of kids who are usually between 15 and 25 screaming along to jazz standards.”