I was big into grunge, like Nirvana and Hole, when I was younger, which has been a really huge inspiration because of its rawness and honesty. – Tove Lo
I knew when I went to a very hippie high school that focused on music that I wanted to do something in the industry. – Tove Lo
For me, everything that you’re passionate about always comes with a little pain. That’s how life is, and that’s how I want to live it. I don’t want it to be balanced and ordinary. – Tove Lo
At first, my bedroom had flowers and yellow walls and huge furniture in plastic that was orange and green – and furry green bed cover and everything. Then, I think the day I turned 13, I painted the walls black and put Kurt Cobain on the wall and just changed everything into a dark theme. – Tove Lo
If you say, ‘I listen to pop,’ you picture this kind of perfect, colorful, polished song. I want to have that, but when you open it, you see this gritty dark – kind of like dancing your tears away. Disguise the sadness in a pop beat. – Tove Lo
I started to use music almost like a therapist, where it’s like, everything that I don’t really dare to say or speak about, I can sing about. – Tove Lo
We lived by the water, and I was a pretty normal kid until my teenage years; then I dyed my hair pink and spiraled out of control. – Tove Lo
I’ve always liked music that has a darker vein to it. I come from such a safe upbringing – very stable, classic family, everything’s nice and good – I was always looking for something different. – Tove Lo
The very first song I ever wrote was a song called ‘Crazy’ when I was 11 or 12 with my best girlfriends – we had a girl band. It was about loving a guy who everyone else thought you were crazy for being into. – Tove Lo
It means a lot to everyone around me that I look good, and I don’t think it should have to. I just think I should look the way I do. – Tove Lo
A lot of times, I get asked, ‘Do you feel you have a responsibility to young girls to be a role model?’ I don’t see that happening as much to guys. I feel like, just because I’m a girl, I’m supposed to take more responsibility? Is that how it works? – Tove Lo
I was always drawn to the self-destructive kind of way. I thought there was something beautiful about it; I don’t know why. – Tove Lo
The fact is, when you date an artist, you have to know that they’re going to sing about you. – Tove Lo
I can’t live just being content. I can’t have a routine. I can’t be settled because then I just get really frustrated. – Tove Lo
I’ve always wanted my music to have that desperation, where you just want to strip your clothes off and run down the highway. I want the feeling where you don’t really know what to do with yourself – in the vocals, in the production. Everything. – Tove Lo
In the same way that I’m open when I speak, I’m that open on stage. I feed off the energy of the audience, too, so they’re feeling what I’m feeling. – Tove Lo
I find it really cool when people have this artist persona they can put on. They can go out and act like this other person; I can’t pull that off… I can’t censor myself. – Tove Lo
