I don't watch TV.
— Syd
I don't really watch too many movies, but I try to watch inspirational pieces about other musicians. Musical documentaries truly inspire me.
I grew up watching 'American Idol.'
For Odd Future, I only made beats for Mike G. With the Internet, I'm part of a production team making tracks for me to sing over.
I love being part of a creative process, so having a band to work with is perfect for me.
I wish I could sing like Nelly.
I don't even start singing anything until the mic is on and recording, because my first ideas are usually my best ones. So I'll just press record; I'll freestyle a whole three minutes.
I want to say I hate my generation, but I don't.
I want to be a great performer.
Kaytranada's a really cool dude.
I know that Shia LaBeouf and Fiona Apple went to my alma mater, Hamilton High.
My dad makes me breakfast every morning; he's very worried about my nutrition.
At the end of the day, I represent myself first and foremost, and I'm not going to ever purposely try and misrepresent myself.
I'm kind of shy when it comes to women, so I don't really approach them. I'll just admire them from afar, and if they happen to say something to me, then maybe I'll find the courage to say something.
I think the selfie age is kind of making fame annoying.
I think too many people are offended by stuff that doesn't matter.
I've written songs about women since I've been involved with women, but I do know a few gay female artists who, back in the day, would write songs about men.
I think I'm influenced a lot by Drake in specific ways in my writing.
I go through stages with all kinds of stuff. There'll be a couple of months where I'm reading, you know, like, fiction mystery novels, and there'll be a couple more where I'll be redecorating a room in my house.
Once we got signed, I moved out of my house because I was having teenage issues with my mom. It really wasn't my fault, looking back. You know, I'm gay; it's weird. It was one of the things. She has no problem with me being gay, but she had a problem with me dressing the way I do at first.
Guitar Center hooks me up on a lot of stuff.
My conscience is really active. So I feel bad about spending excess amount of money on things.
I, for one, am, like, the most ordinary person. Like, people look past me all the time because I'm just so blending in.
I used to feel like I wasn't a good songwriter when I couldn't finish a song by myself.
Justin Timberlake has a great live show.
I lived in a pretty big house, and we had a guesthouse, so when I was 14, I built a studio in my bedroom, which was pretty big. It was two rooms connected, so I turned the second into a studio and ran the mic in my closet.
I've realised that I actually like being by myself.
I was 16 when I recorded 'Flashlight.' I produced it, made the beat, wrote it, recorded it.
It took me a very long time to be comfortable in my own skin.
I'm not ashamed in the least bit of being gay or being a lesbian. I just prefer to call myself gay for some reason.
I feel like I'm real honest in my music. Even if it ends up being an exaggeration or a fantasy, it's a fantasy that's real to me.
For me, I'm just trying to keep it fun, keep it interesting, not get stuck on the same sound, the same wave for too long.
I sing, but I'm not a singer. I'm just a producer who sings on her own songs because I can't find anybody else who sounds like me.
I think the audience is getting it right, you know what I mean? And that's kind of rare when the artist feels like their audience understand them. But I feel like people are understanding exactly what I'm going for. And that's awesome.
As far as open conversations with random people, no I don't really enjoy them.
I think that's what I learned a lot from Odd Future. I learned a lot of great things from them, but one of the mistakes that they made was that we didn't stay together, and we didn't communicate. We never had meetings. Everybody had issues with everybody else and wouldn't talk about it.
I think my first client other than my brother was this kid named Tallent. I was charging him eight dollars an hour to record in my room. He kept coming back, then I went up to ten dollars an hour.
I use Logic or Reason and a midi keyboard for beats. If it's gonna have all live instruments in it, I'll probably use Pro Tools and have the band lay stuff down.
I never think I work hard enough, as much things I have on my plate.
Studying James Fauntleroy, I learned it's okay to write a bad song. Just write another one the next day and hope that it's better.
I was really inspired, working with Odd Future.
I started taking vocal lessons steadily. I started taking it seriously.
When I was 14 and I wanted to buy stuff, I didn't like asking for stuff from my parents, so I started a couple companies, and the last one ended up being my studio.
I like that I'm an engineer - it sets me apart from a lot of other artists.
My dad's a businessman, and I grew up looking up to him, how he dressed to go to work and, whenever I went to his office, how he spoke to people.
Everybody in Odd Future is their own artist - they have their own friends and their own ideas for things - so we all spent quite a lot of time separated.
I've always been conscious not to take advantage of my sexual orientation because I don't think it's fair, and it shouldn't matter.
I think everybody goes through times where they're vulnerable and then times where you're confident and cocky.
I remember my first albums: Brandy's first album and Usher's 'My Way.'
It kind of feels good to make something that you're proud of and it's also very real to you.
