Lykke Li

“If you're being ignored, that's a good time to concentrate on finding yourself and creating your own mystery.”

“When I was very little, I was into Michael Jackson. At six or seven, it was Madonna, but she's not what she used to be. I've been into everything from Edith Piaf to Joe Strummer to the Velvet Underground to Suicide to A Tribe Called Quest to African music.”

“I'm not so interested in being indie just for the sake of being indie.”

“I always feel like I've been slightly misunderstood. As a woman, you get judged for appearances or things like that I don't really care about.”

“The first thing you do when you get off tour is let off some steam and, you know, have some type of big breakdown.”

“The first tape I got was Madonna's 'Immaculate Collection.' I'm inspired by the way she started from nothing and didn't have a big musical talent, but had a big dream.”

“I will never get to Lady Gaga's status. That's not something I want.”

“I was a total floral hippie as a child so when I finally could make my own choices, I've been living in different black suit jackets and been really drawn to masculine clothes.”

“I'm actually a really shy person. I just really enjoy being in studio; I don't go out much.”

“Where I've been hasn't influenced my music. It's more what I listen to. You can find music everywhere, so moving hasn't really influenced my music, more me as a person.”

“During the day, I don't wear much makeup; I only put on makeup for the show.”

“I'm a very melancholic kind of person. I don't know why; I think certain people are born a certain way.”

“I was 21 and homeless - such a broken, lost woman.”

“You can become quite blase, and also, I have no sense of home; I don't have roots. I've never had that feeling that someone else is going to take care of me, ever. I don't trust people.”

“I think everything in life comes in threes: heartbreak and all that. You've got to do the full round in order to learn.”

“The problem is, when I talk about heartbreak or whatever, people want to melt it down to some break-up of a relationship, but it's not about that. If you're a sensitive person, just stepping outside can be heartbreaking.”

“I love listening to demos. They're so raw.”

“I lived five years in Portugal and then spent winters in Nepal or India.”

“People comment on how you look; it's so unnecessary. I just wanted people to listen to what I have to say instead of focusing on anything else.”

“I'm interested in a lot of different sounds and types of music.”