I grew up in a life where the answer was always there, I guess. But now I'm out on my own and still looking for the answer. Nothing is solved for me.
— Katy Perry
The records are black boxes for me. Like, if you want to know who I am, my views, my perspective, things I love, things I hate, my convictions, my anthems. I've never let people's opinions affect the way I write.
People talk about bullying, but you can be your own bully in some ways. You can be the person who is standing in the way of your success, and that was the case for me.
Sometimes I can be distracted by the glamour and the fabulousness.
People don't understand that I have a great relationship with my parents - like, how that can exist. There isn't any judgment. They don't necessarily agree with everything I do, but I don't necessarily agree with everything they do.
My mother is very emotional as well, but my dad is more of the guts of the family. He was the main preacher, so he kind of had this little Pentecostal flair, but they are born-again.
I'd go to the farmers' market in Santa Barbara, and I'd put out my guitar case, and I'd test out these little ditty songs that I would write, and I would get a couple of avocados, a bag of pistachios, and, like, fifteen bucks. That was a lot of money for me.
I never took part in the rules and hatred that sometimes go along with religion. But if my parents are happy with what they believe, then I'm happy to stay out of their way. We agree to disagree.
The first songs I wrote were catchy, but the subject matter was God.
I think that parents grow up with an idea of what they want their kids to be like - and then their kids grow up to be people of themselves, of their own.
You know you're living right when you wake up, brush your hair - and confetti falls out!
I just feel like I have this gift that I've been given. It's like, 'Someone unwrap it! Here it is!' That drive can't be held down.
I think we're all blessed with gifts and I was lucky I just found out what mine was early on and have planted that seed and tried to water it every day.
I'm still driving along on the pop freeway of life. Thinking even further into the future, I definitely want to make an acoustic record. I want to try lots of different things.
With songs, I've always pledged to be honest. I write my songs because I've lived them.
I'll continue to try and balance like a circus act. And I will just fight to always tell the truth. Even if it's difficult.
My parents were strict, but it was the world I lived in. I had no idea there was a world outside.
I grew up listening to gospel. That was the only thing that I had reference to because that was what my family was involved with.
I did a lot of thrift and vintage. I would mix those pieces into some of the more inexpensive items from Express, Gap, Old Navy, and Clothestime.
I'm a good girl because I really believe in love, integrity, and respect. I'm a bad girl because I like to tease.
I don't take anything for granted. There are 500 other girls right behind me. And I know that, because I was one of them.
I think you become more relatable when you're vulnerable.
I wasn't going to great schools, because my parents didn't believe in public education. They wanted the education to be influenced by their religion, so I was going to these halfway education-slash-Christian schools that were like pop-up shop-style education.
I see everything through a spiritual lens.
I'm not defined by where I came from.
My style icons were Gwen Stefani, when she was in No Doubt, and then Shirley Manson in Garbage.
I was raised in a super-sheltered atmosphere where we didn't watch anything besides Trinity Broadcasting Network - which was called TBN - or the Fox News channel.
I don't believe in a heaven or a hell or an old man sitting on a throne. I believe in a higher power bigger than me because that keeps me accountable.
I have a lot of ambition.
When I first started out, I was really attracted to having my own sense of style because I started swing dancing, lindy hop, and jitterbug.
I came from a different mind-set growing up, and my mind has changed.
I don't want to completely self-sabotage everything that I've got and alienate everyone. But I definitely want to take some chances as I always have.
I don't follow trends. I'm just not into what everyone else is wearing. I have my own look, which I call 'Lolita Meets Old Hollywood Glam.'
If you're presenting yourself with confidence, you can pull off pretty much anything.
My sister travels with me, and she's the person who keeps me in line, whether I like it or not. I trust her and also have a good, healthy fear of her.
I live a rock-star kind of life where I don't go to bed until 4 A.M. I'm very nocturnal.
I always knew I wanted a great man of God, someone who was going to be an inspiration for people and also be a lovely husband and father.
My parents are Republicans, and I'm not.
I feel like my secret magic trick that separates me from a lot of my peers is the bravery to be vulnerable and truthful and honest.
When I was younger, I used to be a part of the surfing-and-skateboarding community.
I believe in a lot of astrology. I believe in aliens... I look up into the stars and I imagine: 'How self-important are we to think that we are the only life-form?'
I love hearing my song on the radio the first time, but when it comes on again, I change the station. I already have so much of the spotlight on me. I don't need any more.
If you are not happy with something, you should change it. So I went to a lot of therapy, and finally, I am able to speak up for myself: You are going to hear me roar!
I wanted it to be like Amy Grant, but it didn't pan out that way. My label actually went bankrupt, and I was left without a home.
Santa Barbara is my hood. I mean, it's not much of a hood, but it is definitely like my hood. I claim Santa Barbara like I claim my family. I'm going to be married and buried there.
Everyone related to me in my circle was from church: church friends, church school, church activities. All my friends weren't allowed to watch MTV or go to PG-13 movies or listen to the radio, so I didn't really know anything different. That's how I was raised.
I still want to make a pop record. I want to make a more sonically current pop record. I maybe want to make people move a little bit more.
I'm okay with having bad dance moves. I'm okay with having horrible lower teeth. That's what makes me me, and for some reason it's worked out all right.
I'm okay if everything is honest and truthful and relatable. If it's fabricated and ill-motived, it's not good.
I'm competitive with myself, and that goes hand in hand with how I present myself. I'm not only trying to put one foot in front of the other, I'm trying to put my best foot forward.
