A biography for Liz Phairhasn’t been written yet.
“I am a feminist, and I define myself: Be yourself, because if you can get away with it, that is the ultimate feminist act.”
“I just don't fit into the box.”
“I knew that collaborating on songwriting would be difficult for a lot of people, because I was known very much, for my independence and the fact that I wrote these quirky songs that were not typical structure, not typical sound - you know, really original stuff.”
“Everything that people lob at you who don't know you, it all hurts. When you're doing something as simple as making music, which really, theoretically, shouldn't hurt anyone - I mean, it's a song! Step back for five seconds and laugh.”
“My identity has everything to do with me and my instrument. It doesn't have to do with what production style I use, or how many people played on it, whether it's sparse or grandiose or whatever. And I'm social, frankly.”
“It makes sense - you wanna gather a lot of people together, and Vegas really does that well. New York can, but you know the hassles. I've lived there. It's an entirely different beast.”
“Lana Del Rey seems to be bothering everybody because she allegedly 'remade' herself from a folk singing, girl-next-door type into an electro-urban kitty cat on the prowl (of course I like her), and they feel she is inauthentic.”
“I'm known for being annoyingly gender-focused. It's always been my platform.”
“I mean, I kind of remember... I'm 36 now, so it's kind of hard for me to relate to what it was like when I was 25, or 24, but I do remember a period in time when that's how I defined who I was, by the music I listened to and the movies I went to.”
“I am comfortable performing now. I love it!”
“That's what music is to me. Like, stuff that I really like to play loud. And I've got my quiet CDs, too, that I listen to around the house, but if you can't go there, then... Everyone gets so upset with me, I can't win.”
“I'm competitive, so I don't like to feel marginalized by the people who sell a lot of records.”
“Yeah, I like to be the maker of the art. And I like and want the money. But I don't really dig being famous.”
“I am just like you and everyone else. I am trying to live my life as best I can.”
“There's nothing wrong at all with women wanting to be women.”
“I just want to make music and make a living. I just have to find the means of doing that.”
“My nails are a disaster. If I play guitar when my nails are long, I just tear them off.”
“I try to see interviewing as performance art, and just take it as it comes.”
“When you love what you do, you're happy just doing it!”
“The big news already broke. The file-sharing and all that stuff, it's a done deal. And I think figuring out how to make that a fair exchange for the people that make music is still an issue.”