Sharon Van Etten Quotes

The first night was awful because I was so afraid, and I was never more afraid because it was going out of my character to be outgoing and to be vulnerable and to be out there and onstage. My hands were sweaty and I couldn't swallow, and I drank a bottle of wine to calm my nerves.

I was always an exhibitionist. I liked it when everyone laughed. But I didn't do plays in high school. I was too nervous.

I don't feel nervous or fearful when I'm on stage.

I can sing in front of people. I can go on a TV show, live, and not feel like I'm going to throw up.

I've never felt nervous in front of big crowds and in big stadiums.

I got on stage for the first time when I was seven. From seven until I was about nine it was probably more to do with just being on stage and having the attention.

My first-night jitters are so bad, I can't even hold a tea cup, but once I am over that, I get really into it.

I get nervous every time, for every single performance, before getting up on that stage.

In general, I'm pretty shy and nervous about a lot of things. For me to get on stage for the first time took so many times at an open mic before I finally got on stage and did it.

In a strange way, I'm way more comfortable onstage than anywhere else.

And when I perform on my own tour, I have to talk myself into going out on that stage every single night.

Every three days on average, I am alone on stage, facing the public.

I conquered my stage fright a long time ago. In my line of work, it's kind of a pre-requisite that you not feel bad about looking stupid in front of a lot of people.

I can never remember being afraid of an audience. If the audience could do better, they'd be up here on stage and I'd be out there watching them.

I'm hideously shy as myself, but on stage I can run around naked and bite the heads off fish.

I wouldn't go up on a stage now if you paid a thousand dollars for one minute of acting. It's a nasty experience. You're up there all by yourself. You're so damn exposed.

I think maybe even one of the reasons I became an actor was actually to hide. I mean, it sounds paradoxical because, of course, people are standing up in a public place and encouraging other people to look at them. So that's not the conventional definition of hiding.

I found at an early age the times when I learned the most about myself was when I got thrown out there on a stage in front of a microphone when you didn't really want to be out there, where you're kind of afraid.

The first time I sang in front of an audience, I was about 14 - it was at my guitar school's showcase, and there were about 30 people there. I was so nervous, but I did it.

When you're on stage singing, you're naked. Your voice is something very intimate, and that's why I'm scared every time before I perform. It doesn't matter if I'm singing for a king or a queen or the Pope, it's enough to be in front of anybody. I suffer, but I can't do anything about it.

To begin with, I don't have any stage fright.

I'm not a natural born performer.

I think I'm actually much too shy to do any performance art. I admire the big swings those guys take, but I'm not a one-man band.

The stage always terrified me. The live audience is just one thing I bewilderingly look back on and say, 'How did I ever participate in that?'

I've always been somewhat uncomfortable on the stage, and I've always felt like physically having to negotiate my own presence as a part of presenting work has always been a source of angst for me.