I'm in hotel rooms night after night, playing a lot of the same venues as my dad and carrying the guitar that used to be his. We're the same person. I don't know if he realises how much of a legacy he has left to his children.
— Martha Wainwright
I've learnt to hide my tears on stage. They make people uncomfortable.
I was kind of a misfit, and when my mother died, I had to become an adult, something that I never thought I would ever be.
You know, people always ask me how I describe my music. First of all I tell them that's their job and then that also one day I hope to have things referred to as Martha Wainwright -esque.
I'm not very prolific. I'm not good at sitting down as an artist and saying 'Okay, I need to put in my four hours today.'
I was not that pretty a girl and I was never pursued as a teenager or young woman, so I was used to having no shame and trying to get people to love me.
I've always been given respect because I'm kind of mannish, and I'm not a great beauty. I've never played the coquette card because I'm no good at it.
I've always had a tendency to push the envelope as far as it can go without hurting someone's feelings.
I think my mother was always worried about me when she was alive.
I wanted to be heard myself, which is hard in a household of people who were very showy. It forced me to find myself and define a personality and a way of being different, and that's a thing that's going to help me to survive in a world of many people playing the guitar.
Being a woman in music and having kids, it's very hard to do both without neglecting one a bit.
I have a tendency to run after people who are completely unattainable and uninterested and make a complete fool of myself.
You have to be willing to give a lot to be in a relationship with me because a lot of the time it's about me.
I've spent the first part of my life in the shadow of my family. I'm not going to live in the shadow of my husband.
I'm trying to solidify a long-term career, because I have no other skills and no other abilities.
I don't like talking about music.
I might not be beautiful, but I'm very interesting!
My childhood definitely revolved around my relationship with my brother. I wanted to be different. I wanted to find my way of being as intriguing and interesting as he was.
