Quotes

I'm not a great dancer. I know I'm not. But I know that I can move. I can throw shapes, just not in the right order.

I'm fascinated by religion, but I'm not particularly religious.

Hype is scary.

Never had any idols, ever. I never had any posters, nothing.

Sometimes I dress like what I want for lunch, because all I can think about is having a tuna sandwich.

I'm not necessarily that big of a clubbing junkie, but I really like dance music as a genre.

When you're not part of a club, you have to find another way of surviving.

We all have to be dishes on a plate eventually, with the way we are marketed, but I have no intention of being a cheap Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet.

Most of the people who write pop music were outsiders at some time in their life.

Melody is disarming. It's anarchic!

As a teenager, in my songbook, I used to script what my lighting would be like. I used to dance in my room, it was like putting myself in a trance, and making myself feel good about things, almost like a private ceremony of begging people to like you.

The stage is my territory, my boxing ring. That's where I'm free.

New York is a bit of a dangerous place to me because you often leave in a blur.

When you come from nowhere, I am fully aware of the fact that people have to compare you to other artists to kind of place you.

My first record was about childhood. There were a lot of nursery rhyme and fairytale references; it was all about being naive.

In fact, no one has ever really wanted to go on a date with me.

A stylist might say you look amazing in anything. Your family will always tell you if you look a complete idiot.

I was quite the quiet teenager. I was a bit of a loner, a little bit of an outsider.

You can't believe the amount of speculation you get over your private life.

I was always told that I was too strange or that I was too cheesy by different groups of people, like the record companies said I was way too weird and the indie people wouldn't even let me in their band.

It's very hard to find men's clothes that do what you want, especially when you go through them as quickly as I do. I need them to be flashy, but I never like to be overdressed. I need to make a statement, but I hate wearing too many clothes.

I'm not creating an enigma or leaving mystery, I'm just respecting myself enough as an artist to give myself room to grow and not to be devoured all in one go.

I was brought up in many different cultures, moving around all the time, and I find my identity in my songs. I project the identity I want to have throughout the songs that I write.

Strangely, I feel that I become increasingly reclusive in my normal life and more open and candid in my music.

The music industry doesn't exist the way it used to. You'll never have another star like the stars of the '90s.

I have opinions on everything. I'm a stubborn old mule. The biggest problem is keeping my mouth shut.

I lack trust in others.

I was born out of classical music.

If I really like the smell of something - a piece of tar or my goddaughter's plastic doll - I put a tiny piece in a bottle with a label. I keep them in a fridge in my bathroom.

In the past, it weighed on me because nobody in my family is gay. I had no role models so I had to find my own way.

They say shyness is a form of egotism, and you are only shy because you care too much about what people think of you. And maybe its true, maybe I am just an egotist.

I was always told I was ugly. I still think I am ugly. I know I've got an odd face and you can't tell me otherwise.

Identity for me is something that has to be played with and explored, and not become complacent about or uninterested in.

I wish I had more guts when I was younger because then I would've said things to people's faces instead of just running away all the time.

I make mistakes. I say stupid things. I do idiotic things. And, quite frankly, I'm proud of them. Why not make mistakes?

Everything I write is about me.

Anyone who tries to diss me in comparison to Queen, it just renders all their criticisms completely futile. That's quite pleasurable.

Everything I do is very visual and very aural, so I don't read music, and I draw as much as I write out lyrics.

You can't deny your limitations.

My relationship with my mother is not cute.

I say I have a midlife crisis every time I start and finish a record.

I think my music generally transcends a lot of genres.

I was a show-off as a kid. I was wearing bow ties and matching coloured trousers.

I'm a big illustration and comic book fan. In my eyes, comic books and illustration are the same kind of art forms.

I collect toys.

Well, I have to say, most of my clothes are designed and made by my mother.

The best way to make the most serious point in the world is to be as unserious as possible.

Mixed reactions? Sure, I get them all the time. I'm a Marmite artist.

In my older songs, I used to hide behind fictional characters to deflect attention away from myself.

I've never, ever labeled myself.