Lana Del Rey

I was impressed with what someone like Karl Lagerfeld built and did and the house that he made, but there was never really a female figure I wanted to emulate.

Fashion is inspired by youth and nostalgia and draws inspiration from the best of the past.

Having a simple career as a musician who liked music was good enough for me.

I used to like to set different film clips to classical music, not even my own songs, but make little movies.

Feeling like you're respected among the people who do the same thing you do is incredible and necessary.

I'm a writer first and a singer second.

When I was young I felt really overwhelmed and confused by the desire not to end up in an office, doing something I didn't believe in.

When I found somebody who I fell in love with, it made me feel different than I felt the rest of the day. It was electrifying. That's what inspired the 'Off to the Races' melodies. That's one of the times when you're feeling electrified by someone else and they make you happy to be alive.

I love to sing and I really love to write, but in terms of being onstage, I'm not that comfortable, which I think is sort of clear.

I have kind of a funny relationship with movies. I don't have to see the whole movie to get an impression of it or to let it have an influence on me.

A lot of the time when I write about the person that I love, I feel like I'm writing about New York.

Stylistically, I love make-up. I love doing my own make-up and stuff, but clothes-wise, I actually didn't ever really care. Initially the fashion world was more interested in me than the music world, which was strange when I first started singing.