Michelle Zauner

“There was a chapter of the pandemic where I was going all out for themed meals and watching a variety of YouTube vloggers that gave a window into their world of cooking.”

“My records have a lot of collaborators on them, and when you're writing a book, it's a very insular process that's very confusing and dark. It's a lot of writing and rewriting in a way that I don't do so much when I'm writing songs.”

“I feel so overwhelmed by the kind of double hitter of a successful book and record. I just assumed at least one of them... would hopefully stick. So it's nice that both did so well.”

“When I write a song, that process is sort of entwined with a lyric or a chord progression that suits the vibe, and that'll work off each other.”

“One thing that I really love about making records is that you can flow through fiction and non-fiction but, ultimately, everything's a commentary on real life in some way.”

“So chess is kind of this nice thing that I have no real aspiration for. It's just a frivolous thing I can enjoy.”

“I was completely shocked - two Grammy nominations. I've said it out loud to myself about 100 times.”

“One thing that's nice about writing a book about food is - unless it's from a specific place - you can revisit things easily by preparing the dish. The sensory detail that comes from interacting with that is something that can be recreated pretty easily.”

“I quit music and decided I was going to work a 9-to-5 job in advertising... which in New York City is more like, 8-to-7.”

“But for a song like 'Paprika,' I typically feel like I need to experience anguish a lot of the time to feel like I've put in enough hard work.”

“But I love listening to my own songs and I know they're working well if I'm not thinking too much about them technically.”

“I feel like there are a number of indie artists... as they grow, it makes the most sense for them to pivot to pop, to become bigger artists. And I feel like that's when people get really bad, you know? I didn't want to fall into that pitfall.”

“If you wrote a crummy line or maybe didn't sing to the best of your ability, there's layers of 10 different instruments all working to convey something. In writing prose for the memoir, if it's not working, it's just not working. It's harder to figure out how to fix it.”

“I have naturally always been a grossly oversharing type of person.”

“I think growing up, I didn't ever attempt to define my Koreanness. It was just this intrinsic part of me.”

“You know, I never went to music school, and it's always seen as this very proper, serious thing to compose a string arrangement.”

“When my mom was sick and in the hospital, I did for the first time feel really bad that a lot of men aren't taught how to take care of other people very well. It's not as important of a skill for them as other things, in the same way that I really resent not being given a toolbox when I was younger.”

“It was really difficult to tour on 'Psychopomp' for a year and do the press cycle and talk to people three or four times a day about my mom dying.”

“I'd always struggled with being a very depressed and anxious person in high school. If I had let that kind of dark moment consume me, I wouldn't be able to climb out of it. So I became a bit of a shark.”

“My career has exceeded beyond all fantasy and expectations that I ever held.”