Charlotte Caffey Quotes

I remember being really young - being 13 or 14 - when I first was really excited about punk rock as an idea, and I was like, 'Don't ever not be punk. Don't ever not be punk.' Telling that to myself, I guess it was like self-defense against the scary world around me.

To me, punk is about being an individual and going against the grain and standing up and saying 'This is who I am'.

To me, punk rock is the freedom to create, freedom to be successful, freedom to not be successful, freedom to be who you are. It's freedom.

I never wanted to be part of any scene, I never wanted to be a part of anything, I wanted to do my own thing. Those are the lessons I learned from punk rock.

Punk has always been about doing things your own way. What it represents for me is ultimate freedom and a sense of individuality.

I grew up in the Bible Belt and I made my own clothes and dyed my hair purple. Nobody ever knew what to do with me.

I will always consider myself a punk because of those experiences in high school. It will always be a part of me.

'Punk' doesn't mean Mohawks and safety pins. It's about not conforming.

The jury had down right contempt for punk rock grass roots ethics.

I never thought of punk rock as the absolute act of rebellion for the sake of rebellion. There's a lot of that in there, but for me I think punk rock was always about questioning things and making decisions for yourself, which is a great message to pass on to your kids.

I wasn't, you know, Mr. Popular. I was somewhere in the middle ground. I was quite alternative, the things I liked to do. Skateboarding, at the time. Playing in a band as opposed to playing in the rugby team. You know, that kind of thing.

People always had something to say about the fact I was odd looking, bigger than other people, that I was awkward. When I discovered punk, I bought into it. That look, combined with being fat, made me even less of what people thought a young woman should be.

I was raised on Nirvana and flannel shirts and Rage Against the Machine, and I sort of describe my youth as rebellious and always fighting the system.

It's very cliched to go, 'You're not punk.' We don't care if we are, and we don't care if we aren't.

Punk allowed women to stop looking feminine. Oh, the relief.

I always said punk was an attitude. It was never about having a Mohican haircut or wearing a ripped T-shirt. It was all about destruction, and the creative potential within that.

I do think I have a rebellious, metal-loving rock chick inside of me.

I'm going to do everything I can to keep from being mainstream.

The Dolls were an attitude. If nothing else they were a great attitude.

I don't think punk ever really dies, because punk rock attitude can never die.

Punk rock is very rebellious, of course, but it also means thinking for yourself.

Punk is not really a style of music. It was more like a state of mind.

When someone asks you, 'What's punk?' my reply is, 'If you have to ask, you're never going to know.'

The punk era, at its best, celebrated questioning the norm and the promotion of originality. Both concepts have always resonated with me.

I first got into music when I heard punk, and it was saying maybe it's OK if you don't live up to the expectations various authorities have for you.