My family is average. I didn't have a crazy life as a kid.
— Charli XCX
I hate the idea of people thinking that I'm just a little girl who goes into studios with pop producers, and they work their magic.
I've wanted to write good pop music, beautiful pop music - not just throwaways. I've always wanted to make it sound luscious and beautiful and cinematic.
One thing I don't understand is how people want you to replicate your past successes. Being an artist should be about freedom and not just becoming one thing, because I think that's terrible and boring.
I still maintain the fact that when I write songs, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't think about it pragmatically. I say what's in my brain, and sometimes it's great, and sometimes it's terrible.
I love Tinashe.
I'm not a diva, and I'm not mean to people or have weird rules.
I love that '...Baby One More Time' video, to be honest; it's amazing.
I really just want to change the way women think about themselves.
My dream collaboration would be with someone like Bjork, Kate Bush, or even Dionne Warwick.
My dad always used to encourage me to dress weird.
I'm just not very good at being happy all the time.
I really love Grimes, Niki & the Dove, stuff like that.
I was 15 when I started making music properly.
I never dress for the occasion correctly because I hate fashion rules. They're so boring.
A sold-out crowd is better than a number one. But being in the studio is better than all of that.
I know how to win people over if things aren't going my way.
My philosophy is to treat people how you want to be treated.
I want to have a publishing company and a record label, and I want to manage five artists... eventually.
I've always wanted to write pop music. I never wanted to be cool or make a hipster record.
I don't think that I'm a pop star. On paper, I'm bad at being a pop star with the conventional idea people have.
Whether I'm writing for myself or someone else, I'll always write a song that I would feel comfortable singing.
I don't want to sell my soul or anything, but to go on a huge tour would be next level.
I'm not interested in the idea of celebrity.
I don't feel embarrassed by any of the music that I like. I think it's all genuinely clever, good music.
I was never the cool kid in school, and loads of people told me that I was weird, that I dressed uncool and did uncool things, that I was too nice, too happy.
My favorite video of all time is 'Say You'll Be There' by the Spice Girls. That's the best styling ever. If I could dress like that every day, I would.
Just because I might be bored doesn't mean I have to look boring. I'd rather look fabulous, like I'm having a great time.
I feel like the U.K. is a better breeding ground for pop, partially because the radio play is more broad and open to new ideas and sounds.
The first show I did with Coldplay was really scary.
It's kind of weird talking about yourself all the time.
'True Romance' was definitely, in part, still me finding my voice as a writer. I was nervous, and I was a lot more shy. The album sounds bruised.
Obviously, getting a number in the charts is a nice thing but the cherry on the cake rather than the main cake.
I spent a lot of my teenage years experimenting with who I was as a person and not really getting it right. And then, I think, I realized that I just had to chill out in life.
I like befriending my collaborators because I'd rather make music with people I like than people I pretend to like.
I'd love to work with Cher Lloyd; that would be my dream person to work with.
I'll listen to 3 artists on repeat for more than a month.
The second someone tries to put me in a box, I will do everything to rebel against that.
I really want to work with Chris Martin. I think he's a genius.
My real friends are definitely the people I grew up with - the people who don't care about my music career at all.
I'm not a dumb idiot just because of what I wear.
If I can sing along to it, it's pop music.
I feel like, throughout 'True Romance,' I was unsure of myself in terms of songwriting. Even though it was my voice, I feel there were a lot of other voices on that record, too.
'90s fashion is awesome. Best of both worlds - you had power pop, like the Spice Girls and Shampoo. But then you had Nirvana and Hole. And you also had '90s dance music like N-Trance, who kind of blended both.
I'm not good at being a picture-perfect pop star, happy all the time. If I'm having a bad day, I can't pretend. I'm always a bit unhappy, but that's just me. I like dwelling in my sadness.
In the same way that musicians inspire me, artists and photographers like David LaChapelle influence me with their visuals. A photographer like LaChapelle creates an entirely new and unique visual for their work, and that's what I'd like to do with the Charli XCX world as well.
I'm lucky I have really cool parents.
I'm not good at dressing up fancy; I always just do my thing, which is whatever I'm in the mood for.
I am very spontaneous when I write; it kind of just comes out. I never think about what I'm going to write about first... it just sort of comes out like word vomit.
Obviously, my label would want me to be on the radio all the time, but that's not my personal goal.
