A biography for Michelle Zaunerhasn’t been written yet.
“I think with any art making, there's a sense of urgency that you have for people to understand you.”
“There was a couple weeks when I was like, I'm going vegan and gluten free. Then I was trying all these weird diets because I think there was this element of control over my surroundings that that gave me.”
“I love kitchenware. I'm very frugal and I don't buy a lot of things, but I'm frivolous when it comes to buying groceries and kitchenware.”
“Maybe it's because I'm an only child or just an extroverted person, and I'm a kind of a ham, you know?”
“I've been lucky to come up when there's such a huge explosion of women, and especially Asian women, in music.”
“When I was growing up, I didn't realize that the idiosyncrasies of my mother's character had something to do with our culture. After growing up and reflecting and making more Asian-American friends, I learned that a lot this is something a lot of people grow up with.”
“I started going to chess clubs when I was in fourth grade. From fourth grade to seventh grade, I was in chess club.”
“My relationship to music is such an essential part of who I am, and was a big part of my relationship with my mom.”
“My mom would frequently tell me to save your tears for when your mother dies.”
“My mom always made me believe that people with only talent didn't go very far. Hard work was what made things possible.”
“I'm a huge fan of the Korean attitude toward service and infrastructure, which is shaped by a preference for speed and efficiency, values I truly yearn for in the US.”
“Sometimes I can really agonize over a creative project and forget that it's essentially professional play, you know?”
“I'm a very impatient person. I like things to be done. So I complete a lot of projects, but it helps to partner or collaborate with someone who's the opposite because they can tell me when to slow down.”
“Soft Sounds' was about disassociating to preserve my mental health.”
“I can't be into plants. I'm never at home.”
“A lot of water and air signs that are just like, trying to have a lowkey conversation. Fire sign enters the room with no chill. I just have no chill.”
“When I started doing press after college, I never got asked about my racial identity; I was asked more about being a girl in music.”
“I had seen an image of these hanging persimmons that are dried during the winter and turned into sweet, dried fruit. And I really like the idea of this very bitter, hard fruit before it's ripened - on display and slowly maturing and turning sweeter and letting its environment impact it. It felt like a very fitting metaphor for where I've come from.”
“I love food. It's been such a huge part of my life. In a way, I think I didn't even realize it until I wrote this book. Food brings me this great joy.”
“I do really love New York. I feel like there are more Asian restaurants. Philly has a sick food scene, I don't want to diss it at all. But New York is so much bigger and there are more options.”