I’m universal. As much as I can get out a ‘Firework’ with Katy, I can get a ‘Lil Freak’ out with Usher. Or a ‘Lay It Down’ with Lloyd. I can get Caribbean as I did on ‘Rio,’ then go from there to working with No Doubt. – Ester Dean
It’s so funny because if you tweet your lyrics and then you hear it in a song next week, you’re like, ‘Hey I had that same idea.’ I’m very secretive with my music. We have to send emails password protected. Because once that song gets out, you aren’t selling that thing. – Ester Dean
I’m a very emotional writer. I always need to have a boyfriend. I always need to have some food. I always need to have a heater at my feet, and I drink this thing called Cool Brew, which I found in Louisiana. It’s like condensed coffee. – Ester Dean
I’m the only girl songwriter that fights for a lot of things. I fight for songwriting fees, which record labels want you to shut up about. – Ester Dean
I just write songs from the heart, and you never know who’ll like the songs. I try to make sure that I don’t allow anybody’s expectation to weigh on me. I have my own expectation of life. I believe in letting people be free. – Ester Dean
There are lots of people way more talented than me – but I work more, and I wanted it more. I never waited on anyone else. – Ester Dean
I write by myself and then deliver the song. Everybody knows, ‘Leave Ester alone when she’s in her zone.’ Give me a studio and the tracks, and I’ll call you when the doctor is done. – Ester Dean
I normally work like a vampire. Around 8 to 9 P.M., what I call ‘the spirits’ actually show up, and then I just go in the booth and scream on top of a track. I only sing on the mic. I don’t sit down and write anything. – Ester Dean
I’m limitless, spontaneous and fearless. I can take direction and also give it. And I don’t dwell on celebrity. – Ester Dean
People keep putting limitations on themselves and creating this reality that soul music is dead. That’s only in their reality. It’s not true. To me, Adele is R&B. Bruno Mars is R&B. It’s just good songwriting and songs. That is going to last. – Ester Dean
I will make up a crush, you hear me?! I will look at a guy and say, for two months at least, ‘I think you’re cute.’ And then I can be psycho. I will go in my head and make a whole life with him, he don’t even understand why I’m mad at him. I’m like… ’cause you came in late last night!’ And he’s like, ‘I don’t even know you.’ – Ester Dean
I see what other people do and what songwriters don’t. They don’t get out and take care of themselves. Producers turn themselves into a massive brand. Songwriters tend to be under someone else’s umbrella. If you’re building your own legacy, it can’t be under an umbrella. – Ester Dean
I’m more than a songwriter. I’m a creative person. Some people you just always see. I won’t allow you to see me unless it makes sense. There’s a reason to see me. – Ester Dean
I had so many beliefs against being a singer or what it takes. There was a lot of pain associated with that. The rejection of it all. I lived in a rejection state of mind. Not because of my voice; the mike never rejected me. It was harboring all those bad memories of being broke. It teaches you your worth. Nothing good comes from that. – Ester Dean
If I’m out of town and I’m in a situation where I have to be creative, it has to be hot dogs because that’s my comfort food. – Ester Dean
I always tell people I write songs, but I’m a writer. It’s a difference. I can write songs to music, but I can write a story. I can see ideas spark in me. – Ester Dean
