Benjamin Clementine

Studying music involves a lot of mathematics and a lot of exercises of memory. Or you've got to be able to be like somebody, to play like somebody, to play Mozart's music the way he played it and how he intended it. You've got to make it perfect, and that's not what I want to do. Although it is beautiful. ”

I don't think I'm a singer, I think I'm an expressionist. But it takes time to put it in people's minds that this guy is not singing, 'Baby, I want to have you.' This guy is actually thinking about what he's saying. This guy has something to say. ”

We always blame other people when things go wrong. For example, family to friends, you think they'll stay by your side, and you realise they never do. But that's life. ”

I'm from a middle class family, but my father squandered all the money, so I didn't really run around with rich people. ”

I never thought I'd say this, but to any child listening, the world is your oyster. ”

Not all families stay together. ”

At home and in church - which I didn't go to a lot, I was very rebellious, but my family was strict Christians - they would ask us, 'What's the shortest verse in the Bible?' and I was the one who always said 'John 11:35' straightaway. It stayed with me: the Bible has stayed with me. ”

I dedicate all my time to music. And I'm glad that it's paying off in some ways. ”

Poetry itself is music. I'm just lucky that I can convert it into music. William Blake is my favorite poet of all time, and he said that he wasn't quite familiar with the sounds of music. If so, he would have been a musician. All of his poems are all like songs, and that's how I always try to start my thoughts. ”

I found it quite pleasing to be alone from a very young age. The piano became my source of release. ”