Latest Grimes Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• I definitely see the voice as an instrument: It makes great drums, great synth pads, great everything. Vocals can be so many things, like, "Hey, I'm Michael Jackson, and this is my iconic voice," or a choir of people sounding like Mozart's Requiem. Mariah Carey is my favorite singer because her voice sounds utterly groundless. It's not even a human voice; it almost sounds mechanical.

  Grimes

  People, My Favorite, Choir

  Source: pitchfork.com

• I grew up with four brothers, and in the back of my head I feel pretty masculine. It's always funny when I hear recordings of my voice, because it's so deep when I hear it in my head.

  Grimes

  Brother, Masculine

  Source: pitchfork.com

• I have a really weird relationship with myself where I'll say, "Do it, do it!" and then, "I don't want to do it anymore, I hate photo shoots, I'm so tired of this!" Or, "I wrote a song, and you're gonna sing it!" then, "I can't hit the note." I want to be a behind-the-scenes producer. I really hate being in front of people. But I'm also obsessed with becoming a pop star.

  Grimes

  Song, Hate, Tired

  Source: pitchfork.com

• If I'll be sexualized, it wouldn't be because I was wearing sexy clothes, because I look like a baby. But music is an inherently sexual thing. If something sexual is going to be expressed, it's going to be in my music.

  Grimes

  Sexy, Baby, Music Is

  Source: pitchfork.com

• I feel like gender lines are changing. A couple of years ago, it wasn't nearly as OK for guys to like girly-sounding music. But all of a sudden a lot of my guys friends who would like have been really disdainful of female singers are way more accepting.

  Grimes

  Couple, Guy, Female

  Source: pitchfork.com

• One thing with Montreal is it's so cold and everyone's so poor and beer's so cheap: if you go to a show you have to brave the weather to get there. So you show up and everyone's soaking wet - there's a sense of 'I trekked through three feet of snow to get here!' I think there's a kind of camaraderie that arises out of that, that's important to me as well.

  Grimes

  Beer, Thinking, Weather

  Source: thequietus.com

• I think Canadians make a lot of music because we're stuck inside all the time.

  Grimes

  Thinking, Stuck, Music Is

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• I write music better in the winter, I prefer making music when it's dark.

  Grimes

  Writing, Dark, Winter

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• I think my music's kind of cold, but I don't know if it's related to the weather. It might be because it's always grey [in Montreal], it's very depressing.

  Grimes

  Depressing, Thinking, Weather

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• I've never lived outside of Canada, so I've been really cold my entire life. Most of my memories are coloured by the fact that I was really cold, just... all the time!

  Grimes

  Memories, Canada, Facts

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• I know texture is really important, but I think texture and stuff precedes songwriting a lot of the time these days.

  Grimes

  Thinking, Important, Texture

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• I think one of the reasons I'm successful as a musician is that the first like 30 shows I played, I played with no monitors standing in front of guitar amps in a shitty, smoky warehouse where people were screaming and wasted, knocking over my gear. So shows after that seem pretty easy!

  Grimes

  Successful, Thinking, Guitar

  Source: thequietus.com

• There aren't many other labels who I can say are that successful, and can give me as much as 4AD gives me, and still have such a great roster.

  Grimes

  Successful, Giving, Labels

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• I only work at night, generally. Usually when I work [during the day] I'll black out the windows or something.

  Grimes

  Night, Black, Window

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• I would never go to a studio. I need my space, you know what I mean? I need to be able to chain smoke and pace about, cry and like... spit. Just make noise, make a huge mess. I also feel like if I was concerned for the cost of the studio - like, 'this is costing 40 dollars an hour' - I wouldn't be able to work.

  Grimes

  Mean, Space, Noise

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• It takes me probably about four hours to get into the groove [with making music]. And it's really important for me to not break the groove.

  Grimes

  Important, Four, Hours

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• The groove can go for like three days - once I'm in it it will just keep going until I'm totally exhausted. But that's how I like to work, I like to be away from everyone and just get in the zone, and stay there for as long as I can keep it there.

  Grimes

  Long, Three, Exhausted

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• I think you can hear, when you listen to someone's music, whether or not they're enjoying making it - it's so great to hear music where you can tell the person making it was just having a blast. That's really important to me as far as my process goes. That's probably why my music ends up being so poppy!

  Grimes

  Thinking, Important, Poppies

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• Whenever I'm making music I'm always waiting for the shivers to happen - that's an important thing for me.

  Grimes

  Waiting, Important, Shiver

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• I love pop music, but I also love noise music, IDM - anything really, I get something out of most kinds of music. I just need to enjoy the process.

  Grimes

  Needs, Noise, Kind

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• If I think about what other people are thinking when I'm making music, I just can't do it. It's too withheld - I need to go totally over the top, and then kind of clean it up a bit and make it more reasonable after the fact.

  Grimes

  Thinking, People, Facts

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• When I'm making something I need it to be catchy - I need it to hit the sweet spot.

  Grimes

  Sweet, Needs, Catchy

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• Usually when I make music, in my head I'm like 'this isn't Grimes, this is just some other project that you can release later, so there's no pressure and it doesn't matter and no-one's ever gonna hear it'.

  Grimes

  Matter, Pressure, Release

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• Lately I've been really into screaming a lot through delay [effects], having seven people on stage topless going crazy, stuff like that. Really in your face, but maybe more organic than choreographed dance moves.

  Grimes

  Crazy, Moving, People

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.

• The last thing I think about when I'm making music is its reception.

  Grimes

  Thinking, Lasts, Music Is

  "Always Waiting For The Shivers To Happen: Grimes Interviewed". Interview with Angus Finlayson, thequietus.com. May 25, 2012.