Latest Yukimi Nagano Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• Keep at something even when you don't feel inspired. Don't wait for inspiration! I write a lot of songs that are terrible, in the hopes that one song that has something special comes out of it. Just stay at something, and write every day if you're writing lyrics.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Song, Inspiration, Writing

  Source: nyc.brightestyoungthings.com

• Have your own definition of success. Figure it out for yourself. If you really want to be the next Rihanna or whatever you've got to understand what that takes. Or if you want to be the Brian Eno - or whatever it is - who knows? Define for yourself what success means.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Mean

  Source: nyc.brightestyoungthings.com

• To foster creativity, I think a little pressure can be good, but stress isn't good. Knowing that you have a defined window of time and you're going to dedicate your attention to it is a positive - but you can't think of it as needing a track that's going to change your life.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Stress, Creativity, Thinking

  Source: nyc.brightestyoungthings.com

• What does success look like for you? Maybe your definition of success is too different from what the label defines as success. Perhaps your definition of success is simply being able to live off your art for the rest of your days. Don't get caught up in this crazy business. I'd say that's one of the most important things.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Art, Crazy, Important

  Source: nyc.brightestyoungthings.com

• Keeping your sanity is sometimes stalling the business aspect of things and being OK with saying no to certain things. Sometimes I just need to be home and write in my diary every day and take long walks. Or just dancing - I have a few dancer friends, and I go to their places and drink tea, and put on these long electronic mixes; maybe smoke a joint, you know? I like to be in nature, and swim in the Swedish sea, and spend time with family.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Home, Writing, Long

  Source: nyc.brightestyoungthings.com

• You want inspiration to come in a natural way and let it happen when it's going to happen. The last thing you want is this ghost looming over you saying "it has to be good" - remember that feeling of loving what you do, and don't let the business aspect murder that. It takes away the creativity for me.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Inspiration, Creativity, Over You

  Source: nyc.brightestyoungthings.com

• It's always a bit risky, when you put yourself out there with somebody in a collaboration, but I think we learn things every single time, and we come out of it with a new perspective on writing because everyone's process is different. Unfortunately we don't always get to spend time in the studio with those artists - oftentimes it's just sending files online. But both can be liberating and productive in their own way. Some of the best collaborations happen when you're all in a room together.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Writing, Artist, Thinking

  Source: nyc.brightestyoungthings.com

• Partly I think it's always a challenge to travel a lot. If I could choose to never travel again but still do all my shows - I mean, who wouldn't want to do that? That's the work aspect of it. Maybe people don't think about it this way, but it makes it feel like a job when you're playing late and getting up really early for a lobby call, and flying around.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Mean, Thinking, People

  Source: nyc.brightestyoungthings.com

• For us, as artists, our goal isn't to forever try to play at the biggest venue ever. Our goal is to make music and keep pushing ourselves creatively, whether it gets attention or not. If we get to do that without being broke? That's our goal. And that may not mean that's going to result in us playing the biggest venue in the world.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Mean, Artist, Goal

  Source: nyc.brightestyoungthings.com

• I am a creative person and it's important for me to get that out there, kind of like eating food. It's something I need to do to feel happy. It's some kind of drive and I don't know how to explain what the reason is, but it's something I have a need to do.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Creative, Important, Kind

  Source: nyc.brightestyoungthings.com

• It's not always a conscious thing - I've never been that artist to come to the recording session with a concept of an album; I am a lot more intuitive. I usually start with the music and try to catch a feeling, a gut feeling. And then you need to do interviews and explain yourself more, in words. But during the process it's really about the gut feeling, and it's hard to explain. You're trying to find those moods that make you feel something, I guess.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Artist, Feelings, Trying

  Source: nyc.brightestyoungthings.com

• It's weird with making music - you can have no vibe while you're working on something and recognize that the music was special afterwards. And it happens to me while I am working on my own music, as well! One minute you hate it, and then a few years you're obsessed with a little beat you did, and the opposite.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Hate, Special, Obsessed

  Source: nyc.brightestyoungthings.com

• If you're just starting off as an artist, steal as much inspiration from everything you like, as much as you can. Take from books, from poets, from musicians. Just steal stuff from all over the place and then mix it up to make something of your own.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Book, Inspiration, Artist

  Source: nyc.brightestyoungthings.com

• As an artist, let the creativity be the priority as often as you can, even though we all understand that there are bills to pay. My favorite artists are those who have always kept a strong creative image and their vision for their art at the forefront.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Art, Strong, Creativity

  Source: nyc.brightestyoungthings.com

• I think most people get hit by the music first and you can be singing along and realize a song has this melancholy feel. As Swedes, I think we see a beauty in melancholy. You're heartbroken, you're looking out the window and you feel really at ease in the pain. I have so many memories as a teenager with music, sad music, but I was just so into it.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Heartbroken, Song, Pain

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I think most people are many-sided; you have your evil side, your happy side, your spaced-out side. You try to stay on the positive side more - I mean, I try to - but I think we all have those different faces of ourselves.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Mean, Thinking, People

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• On stage, that for me is a space I really love to be in. It's a time to really get drawn into the music and the moment with my friends. It's the best reminder of the reason why we're doing what we're doing.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Moments, Reason

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• It can be tricky with branding these days, because everything is kind of branded.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Kind, Branding, Tricky

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I think we're a little bit protective in that way. You're always trying to balance between what's spreading the word about the band and what's good money and what's a shitty look. Is this good for the longevity of the band? Do people even care these days? We care, but do we care more about the money? We've had a lot of discussions about things. It gets us into a lot of fights, but it also makes you question your own morals in a really good way.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Fighting, Thinking, People

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I feel like there are a lot of artists that you could put together that you love, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to make amazing music. Giving an artist a great theme to write about doesn't mean the song's going to be good.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Writing, Mean, Artist

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• A good collaboration I think it's really, truly a vibe thing. The people who are most excited about collaborations are people in the business, people who are thinking, "This is going to be great press," or, "This is going to expose you to all these people you haven't reached before." I prefer not to think like that. I'm more, if you meet the person, you like the person, you've talked to them, you feel connected, you feel like there's a creative exchange, then it kind of happens by itself. I'm open to it, but it has to feel right. If it feels forced, then I'm fearful of doing it.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Thinking, People, Creative

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• There were choices that we've made as a Little Dragon, that we had to make at the time because we needed the money. I think everything has its context. It is way easier to say no to things now then it was five years ago, for sure. Back then we were grabbing at every opportunity we could just to sustain a name and let people know, "Hello, hello! We're here! Look at us!" It's really sort of taken its time and grown, and it's been a very step-by-step process.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Taken, Opportunity, Thinking

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• We've been fortunate enough to have a lot of people to ask us to be on their records - so many artists and musicians that we really respect and look up to. And it's been really special. But from our side, there's so much that we in the Little Dragon are still learning about ourselves writing-wise that I guess we haven't had that need.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Artist, People, Special

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• Maybe it's easier to have that desire guest-spot-packed album, for example, you're a rapper and you need someone to sing the hook. I guess for us, it just kind of feels like we want to explore ourselves more. That sounds kind of cheesy, but I don't know. I have a lot of artists whose music I have this perfect relationship with, and I don't really feel like I need to meet them or get to know them or write with them because of it.

  Yukimi Nagano

  Writing, Artist, Rapper

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• Once you've had a real taste of touring it's like, "Okay, it's pretty amazing that we have real fans and we can go out and play shows," but you start to feel a personal need, like, "Okay, I think it's time to go home for a minute."

  Yukimi Nagano

  Real, Home, Thinking

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com