Kerli Quotes

I feel like the point of being an artist is to have your own voice: to do it the way you would do it and not the way anyone else would do it. If you're a strong enough writer, then that voice is going to come out all the time, and I can't stop it from coming out, no matter what I do.

I want to be remembered as somebody that tried to respect her integrity as an artist and as a person. And I don't want to be in any box. I don't want to be one thing.

Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.

Great artists are people who find the way to be themselves in their art. Any sort of pretension induces mediocrity in art and life alike.

You have to be who you are when you do music.

I have to be able to be the artist that I am.

I think that, as artists, all we can do is be who we are. I think that if we do that, then we're automatically not anyone else.

Your own material is your identity, and I think that's what you need to stick to.

A lot of artists are aspiring to fill an archetype as opposed to being themselves. Even if they can't quite put their finger on it, fans can tell.

I think that one of the beautiful things about theatre - and a place like 'Powerhouse' - is that who you are is informing your work. There's actually no separation from that.

When I can make music and don't have to think about anyone else's ideas or voice - when I'm making something that only I can make - it feels good. It's nice when you can find a sound that only you can make. No one else can make 'Cosmogramma.' No one else can make 'Until the Quiet Comes.'

I'm just trying to be myself - make music how I make music.

I stick to what I do best, and I think what makes an artist an artist is when they know who they are.

That the best piece of art a person is capable of making is the one that only they could create.

It's really tough to make a name for yourself without compromising and without fitting yourself into a real specific mold. When I made the choice that I would be involved in every aspect of music and not necessarily make music for radio or MTV, I was saying, 'OK, this is me. You decide who it is.'

It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.

Not like Homer would I write, Not like Dante if I might, Not like Shakespeare at his best, Not like Goethe or the rest, Like myself, however small, Like myself, or not at all.

When I was coming up, we weren't trying to get a hit or get paid, we were just trying to do our thing. The only thing we were really trying to do was to be recognized for our originality.

I don't feel like I'm an artist with a capital 'A.'

If you look at the common denominator of all the comics who have had big success, it's being true to their nature... that's what takes a long time to learn.

You're always putting yourself into your work. There's no separation; it's just how you use yourself and transform.

I can't think of anything worse, really, than to try to live up to someone else's expectations of what you should be. You don't make art by consensus.

The act of saying what you do helps shape you as an artist.

A lot of people have told me along the way that my style and the music I do... is unmarketable. But the only reason I'm successful is because I have stayed true to myself.

Somebody once told me I shouldn't try to change Hollywood. That isn't my point at all. I don't want Hollywood to change me.